Silence
by Yincira
Summary: Some in-the-middle-of-a-rewrite induced inconsistency may occur.
1. Hunted Secrets

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**· Chapter I · Hunted Secrets ·**

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_Year : 2570_

_Micor sector, Terra Mirror_

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They said it was an unbalance in the natural scale. They said it was always the risk with a planet that was originally not inhabitable, as with any terraforming project. They off course did not say it just was cheaper to work on New Eden than repair any flawed ecosystem .... or rather, flawed atmosphere.

The same rain had descended for months on end, soaking the lands beyond what it could handle and the remedy had come too late. The trees had started rotting while they were still alive, the last remaining animals scavenged anxiously for something edible. Algae thrived on what little light passed reached down, cutting off life chances for any other plants and polluting the water even further.

What appeared to be a cave entrance let go of drops at regular intervals. This created little streams that ran deeper into the cave, but they would be caught in the damp earth before they would ever reach the subterranean rivers.

Here an old little frog sat, deaf by poison and echoes of a cave it was never meant to live in. It didn't heard the snake approaching.

When it finally caught movement in the corner of its eye, it was almost too late. A vain attempt to hop away was intercepted, it was scooped up in mid-air.

Yet it landed a few meters away in a puddle, only a little confused; not the snake but the metal surface belonging to a boot had caught it, which in turn belonged to a hunter who would never bother with something as small as a frog.

At least, normally they wouldn't.

The yautja looked down as the frog jumped away, then saw the snake curl up and hiss at him. After watching it a moment, he stepped on the snake's head and crushed it. Clattering of mandibles replaced the hiss, but not for long — another, older hunter reprimanded him for his waste of time.

The young one grudgingly followed him into the cave. Ahead of them was a long trek through a labyrinthine set of bunkers and halls, the remnants of a sunken human settlement. On their way, the elder hunter took his time to find a certain something by use of various scans. The younger didn't care much, there was little in this environment to keep his interest.

So, when they reached a river and the elder muttered something more about his scans, he was quite off guard when he was pushed into the river without apparent warning.

"Karga'te, go get that." With that, the elder pointed at something presumably lying on the bottom of the shallow river; he couldn't see what.

Irritated, but knowing he didn't have the strength to demand Tehen'rei do it himself, the young yautja bent down at the spot he had been told to.

He pulled out what seemed to be a cluster of white fungus, wires and rags; at closer inspection it were the remnants one of those fake lifeforms created by humans. Android, synth or Auton, they had varying names for them.

On shore he dropped it as quick as possible. The elder inspected it, concluded it was their target and that what they sought wasn't here anymore, but had been.

Irritably Karga'te growled, he had a feeling what was about to come next. And indeed, Tehen'rei ordered him to follow the river downstream, just in case.

"I'll go find the other one." the elder said. "Report to me if you find anything."

He hated any body of water larger than what he needed to survive. Tehen'rei knew that, probably thought this was amusing. But he had no choice, even in a group of outcasts there still were social structures and Karga'te happened to be the weaker here. So, he set his scanner on permanently active and followed the river by side, hoping he could stay out of it for a while.

Tehen'rei meanwhile continued towards a bunker farther away, which he opened with a single plasma blast, leaving quite a bit of rubble in its wake.

The place was hidden safely from any scan methods beyond the stratosphere, it was a cold room devoid of radio signals or even generators. Rotting clothes lay scattered around, a boot here, metal furniture covered with rust. Somewhere here a cryo-container should be as well, which he desperately hoped had not washed down that river.

He soon noticed a thin wind draft, the air he had brought along upon entrance was being sucked into another chamber.

The chamber it led to was empty though. The container couldn't be here, since nothing was here to hide it in. Disappointment and anger threatened to overtake him, but he was old, he could restraint those emotions. He walked a little further in, wondering what the clue was ....

Off course, it was _too obviously_ impossible to hide it here.

He adjusted his scanners a little, quickly finding the secret : the ceiling was hollow. This he had to be more careful about than a plasma cast. So he dragged some furniture from the other room and stepped on it, for even with his height he couldn't reach up otherwise.

Once relatively stable, he set a hand against the ceiling and extended his wrist blades on the other, ramming them in with full force. The hard plastic was difficult to tear apart and required some patience, in fact, it worked much like glass. Cracks appeared all over it but nothing happened until all came crashing down in a single implosion.

He fell down, dirt and plastic piling up around him. His guarded self almost lost composition, but once he had struggled free he found what he was looking for : the container lay half buried aside of his legs. Quickly gathering it up, he scanned it. Inside the cold, vaguely five oval shapes were visible. A sense of triumph, if ever so small, overcame him. He stood up and wanted to contact Karga'te, but stopped in his track.

Those were no eggs, only egg holders.

Hello there, Disappointment. The eggs were gone, so that android indeed had been what had tried to carry it away, it had come after the humans had left. So, what had destroyed it?

Meanwhile, Karga'te had encountered a spot where the river submerged and had stepped in to follow, hence he never heard the roar nor the shriek.

The further he went, the stronger the currents became. A few times he'd been slammed against a wall and torn open his skin, his breath was running out and it was painfully cold. But stubborn choices in the past had gotten him into this life, he had no intention to go out before he could come back on that past. While like all his new 'friends' he had no code to live or die for, he had other reasons.

At the next inner cave, he grabbed a rock, kicked off against the sharp floor and hauled himself out of the tearing river. Collapsing onto his knees he remained on the shore for a minute, catching his breath and letting what little warmth there was return to his sore muscles. Then he looked around.

He was either in a cave or a decayed hall, he couldn't tell, but there was an exit, which he gladly took over returning to the stinking water. Tehen'rei was intimidating, but not as intimidating as the prospect of death.

This exit in question was a hole from which a draft came, perhaps a disposal shaft from long ago. The strange rubble lying in this cave certainly suggested so. He could easily jump that high, but the size of the shaft was another thing, he had to crawl on his stomach to go through.

It took long before he reached the open again and there hardly was fresh air to welcome him, but he was relieved anyway. Really, the lack of fresh air was less of a dampener than the mud he promptly sunk in past his knees.

Great, more drappy stuff.

Specifically, more android drap.

Scattered around him were the remnants of several androids, every single one of them torn apart. Disinterested, he was about to leave when he noticed a container. With some effort he pulled it out of the mud. It wasn't the same as described in the files he had been shown, but his scanner indicated there were small eggs inside.

Satisfied, he clattered his mandibles together. Tehen'rei would be so ticked if _he _managed report he had found it, because then the elder wouldn't be able to take credit.

Now, he didn't care to think about what circumstances had brought it here, but part of the answer announced itself at that moment. Something came crawling up the shaft.

Instinctively he wrestled around to face the entrance, the familiar sound approached. Within seconds the facehugger launched towards his face, but he caught it midair. Rapidly he pulled off the legs and tossed it far away; no need to waste his wrist blades on the acid.

Alright. Hardmeat where it wasn't supposed to be. Nothing new.

He went on to dry ground and continued back, container clutched under one arm and using the other to keep balance on the treacherous ground. He had a few kilometers ahead like this, but with that river behind him he was hardly concerned for what lay ahead .... not that it stopped him from swearing over every little slip. Eventually he found the dry road they had taken on their way to the submerged settlement and from there on made better progress.

It wasn't quite looking up though, someone else had arrived at the ship before him.

The trident corona stuck out above the fog, he could see it from far away. Curious at the ship, it moved around it, apparently inspecting it. Perhaps it waited for more to arrive, so that they could enter it by blood. Perhaps it waited for its owners to return, so it could bring home a new host. Whatever a hardmeat did, it could not be something beneficial to him.

What it _didn't _do though was helpful. As if this point, Karga'te hadn't been spotted. Hardmeat had many ways of sight that he didn't quite understand, but someone had told him once that how adept they were in a particular type could vary. If these hardmeat went on scent in the first place, they had a horrible hunting terrain in this windless land of rot. If it was echo location, ... well, he knew next to nothing about that. Then there had been something about photo-sensitive cells on their corona, meaning he'd be toast if the thing decided to climb the ship.

He sat down against a rock and did the only thing he could do : wait for Tehen'rei. As a lone, not so experienced hunter, it would be madness to face a praetorian simply by walking up to it. Now, he did like the idea of leaving Tehen'rei behind, the jerk deserved it according to him, but in facing a praetorian he needed an advantage which only the elder yautja could give him. Plasma casters would be useful, to be specific.

So when a powerful air current tore the mist off the lands like a veil, he was quite peeved. In full force the marshes were lifted to the sky as the shockwave of the explosion carried even this far. What wasn't torn up was pushed down, everything moved a little further from where once the town had been. A fierce light filled the lands for a few seconds, then all the mud and algae came down almost as quick, transforming ship, yautja and praetorian into identical piles of goo.

Cursing at Tehen'rei, Karga'te struggled to his feet and noticed the container was no longer present. He rapidly shifted through several sight modes, in vain. He had been thrown through the air a short distance but the light container could be a lot further.

The praetorian meanwhile was too heavy to be lifted .... the yautja was much closer to it now. He turned around to find the creature facing his direction and immediately took a defensive stance. But then it became clear why he wasn't attacked yet : the praetorian had stumbled into a marsh and was sucked stuck.

In retrospect, Tehen'rei committing yautja style suicide was also an acceptable advantage.

Or maybe not. Because there he spotted the container, broken by collision with something, and the dim outline of the eggs scattered around. Blasted. He could pick up the eggs that remained, but he needed that container to lock them, lest he wanted to deal with what was inside. And said container was just a few meters away from the praetorian.

Cautiously he approached, estimating the creature's range. He'd had to be careful of the tail in any case, but so far hissing seem to be the only thing it could do, and just for a moment he stopped to look at the creature : he had never seen a praetorian in real life. Facehuggers were nothing new, a drone he had once seen from a distance, and he'd seen the images in databases and on hieroglyphs, yet seeing it in real life was quite a different thing .... hunters would die for a chance to have its skull on their trophy wall and he understood why. It was raw, undiluted power that the yautja themselves would never truly posses. He chuckled at the thought that he had escaped a life of hunting for an ultimate glory that would always be out of reach.

Before his thoughts went elsewhere, he waded into the water and picked the container off of a small bushed, his eyes remaining on the seemingly helpless praetorian.

It wasn't that helpless though, as he learned three seconds later when the praetorian managed to pushed itself ahead far enough to throw him over. The water washed over his mask, but he could see the fangs coming down.

Now _this _was a good reason to waste his wristblades. Before the praetorian could bite down, he rammed his fist up and extended the blades at that moment, setting his full weight against the skull. From this lying position it was impossible to create enough strength to go through the thick plating, but the damage he did to the jaws was enough to make the beast recoil in pain. Part of the blades remained in the wind, melting away already, while Karga'te struggled onto his feet and backed onto dry land.

The praetorian tried to follow, shrieking in anger, but the damp underground wouldn't let go.

The yautja caught his breath, a flare of fear taking announcing itself, but the anger accompanying it was greater. That had been stupid, he should've been quicker .... speaking of time ... blasted. Quickly he gathered up the few eggs that were still intact, placed them into the container and then boarded the ship. After securing the container, he started up and took off.

Time was essential, he wasn't sure how long he had been underground and how long he had waited in the fog, but soon the strange weather of this place would prevent the ship from leaving. Get caught in of those freaky storms of magnetic fields up there, and it was all over.

If he had just looked outside, he might have known a few things more for his future, but he never did see that one forgotten egg, lying close to the caught praetorian. It released a pale, miniature facehugger, eager and strong enough for its nearest host.

Neither did he hear that surprised, agonized call that followed.

Not so far off though, a few humans in a tent did hear.

"What was that?" one asked with a shivering voice.

Another joked it off :"Well, the vegetation started mutating and there are plant-frog hybrids of tremendous sizes waiting to eat us."

"Oh how funny. See me laughing? Look at me laughing." said the first.

After a few more minutes of silence and tensed listening, he added : "That wasn't a frog."

"Yeah? Then what? If there were any aliens here, don't you think they would have found us by now? This planet is inhabitable by nature. There's nothing here but veggies and freaky gas explosions. For that part, we are in a childhood nightmare about spinach."

All four of them laughed, trying not to see the empty sleeping bags of their missing friends, and trying not to think about how they couldn't hope for a rescue ship anymore.

Then, they were silent.

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_Author's note : rewritten as of 2010-02-10. Got rid of some illogical things, clarified some others.  
_


	2. White Shadow

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**· Chapter II · White Shadow ·**

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_Year : 2573_

_Micor sector, Terra Mirror_

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_"Here is a mirror that will change the monsters reflecting in it."_

This message had appeared when they attempted to hack the database of the half-sunken ship, moments before it shut down.

"Captain, it seems it was encoded in a self-destruct shell, and we lacked the key. We did find out one thing though : this ship didn't crash. It was set in sleep mode, and nobody ever started it up."

"I see. Well done, Collins."

Three years ago, a civilian ship had made an emergency landing on Terra Mirror, falling for a deceptive calmness in the atmosphere.

The Mirror stratosphere was filled with a metallic asteroid belt, but the real problem was the turbulent atmosphere right underneath it. Only at irregular intervals would the winds still enough to allow descending, it required a lot of calculation to find out when this would happen and how to maneuver through it.

Most passengers had died when it had crashed in a lake. A small number of survivors had sent a distress signal, but it had been in vain. Now, three years later the atmosphere finally permitted a mission to retrieve the bodies, if only for a proper burial.

No one counted for survivors, for Terra Mirror itself was dying. There were no more frogs or snakes, and the humans had to wear oxygen tanks due to the thin air filled with patches of carbon monoxide and other harmful gasses.

As they searched for the crash-site, the marines had stumbled across a curiosity along the way : a small transport vessel that seemed to have landed decades ago. Maybe it had brought along Internecivus Raptus, for there was a large hole in the hull and hive matter inside; apparently the drones had used it to sleep.

The presence of the xenomorph certainly made the crew nervous. Tensely, they finished up the investigation and salvaged a few useful parts, while always looking around and startled at small sounds.

"Alright, wrap it up. Bayard, did you get your samples?"

Silence, save for a few plop sounds.

"Where did Bayard go?"

They looked around, for as far as the mists allowed sight, but he was not there. Some called his name, likewise without result.

"Now where did that kid go? Anyone seen him?"

"A few minutes ago he was still here, he said something about an interesting radiation trace. I told him to check it out later, didn't see him since."

Commander Morrison sighed. "Get me a contact."

One of the soldiers quickly established a link to their team scientist.

"Mr. Bayard, get your ass back here at once!"

"In a moment, I found something of major interest!" replied a hazy voice; the equipment wasn't the best.

"That was an order!"

"My apologies, but I am not in service of the USCM, can't take any orders."

Morrison groaned in irritation. "Bayard, we're not getting paid to fetch your body if something goes wrong."

"It'll only take a minute! Go ahead without me, I'll be fine!" With that, the connection was broken.

Morrison glared at the tc, then looked up at the nearest marine.

"Wellson, get Bayard back here."

**· · · · · · · **

Jonah was one of those people who often would need a reminder of why they had started something. Not that they quite forgot, but sometimes they got so caught up in studying a single tree that they stopped seeing the forest.

He was also one of those people who went into field research expecting a wondrous adventure, unaware that the elephant could trample them. He had the wrong boots, he was tired, but he still was also hopeful and thrilled.

Traces of some type of radiation covered the area, but those weren't nearly as telling as the giant crater he stood before. He could not even see its other end through the mist, despite it not being that thick here. He could only see a little beyond the center, and he knew his geology : this was not caused by a meteorite. For as far as the ground wasn't drenched, he could see specific pressure marks and if he was correct, the crater had a slightly oval shape.

His observations didn't keep him from hearing the sopping sound that slowly came his way. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a humanoid figure approaching through the mist, one of his comrades looking for him no doubt. He was eager to share his discovery, but then he noticed the man didn't call out a greeting.

Seeing as Jonah was dressed in white — nobody had told him labcoats were bad idea — and blond haired, he himself didn't stick out a lot against the milky mist, ..... this was a great chance. In a fit of childish glee he hid behind a near rock, slowly moving so that his motion wouldn't betray him. There he knelt down and waited. Perhaps it was Erwin or Shilling, impatient as they were with him he would enjoy giving them a scare.

When the man was nearly aside of the rock, Jonah jumped out with a branch in his arms, yelling :"Freeze or die!"

The man stopped in his track and didn't seem phased much by the surprise.

Jonah stood still too; this was not one of his comrades. His hands trembled and the branch dropped, he took his glasses off and tried to rub them clearer, perhaps he was seeing wrong? It had to be wrong, it couldn't be a good thing if he met an armed stranger on this planet, he probably was wrong and —

"Commander, I have come across a civilian."

_Definitely not good._

"Is he armed?" a dim voice asked through some transmitter.

"He might have hit me with that branch."

"Private?" the voice reprimanded.

"No sir, he does not seem to be armed."

"Alright. Hold a minute, we will investigate this."

After a little observation, Jonah was only more puzzled. The man was entirely covered up and his riffle was slender and efficient-looking, nothing like those of the marines he had come with.

"Are you one of the Space Marines too, another faction or something? Did we trespass somewhere? We didn't mean to! We-" Jonah stuttered.

"Please remain quiet." the soldier calmly ordered.

He held his tongue and waited, it didn't take long for the static voice to return.

"Ah, a charity mission to retrieve a few deceased stranded. They seem to have taken advantage of the same shift in the atmosphere as we have." the voice muttered, then in a clearer tone : "It is unfortunate he has seen you, but we can take no risks. Eliminate him."

"Is that absolutely necessary, sir? Perhaps we can silence him in another way."

"No option. Use the shocker, dump him in a pool, make it look like an accident. Do you understand?"

With a sigh, the soldier said :"Affirmative, sir. Over and out."

Instincts took over, Jonah turned to run .... but the ground sucked him close and then he felt the stun of electricity. There wasn't even any fading to blackness as always happened in the movies.

**· · · · · · · **

In retrospect, maybe he should have asked Bayard what he had found, Morrison realized. Upon arrival at the crash site, they saw that a significant part of the lake had disappeared, as if the water had flooded elsewhere. The captain wasn't a geographer, but it took no genius to understand that that water had to have gone _somewhere_. It was too cold for it to have vaporized, so ....

On the bright side, this made salvaging the bodies a lot easier. At least, he was pretty sure these things here were the bodies they were looking for. Lying in the water for years had caused the flesh to swell up and become a white, waxy mass. He definitely could use their scientist right now to determine which was wildlife and which was human.

Neither Wellson nor Bayard had been heard of in a while, and he opened his tc again in hopes of a quicker contact over these blasted poor receptors.

This time though, the connection was clear. It was also not a voice he understood.

"State your identity." commanded the link hijacker.

"I am captain Morrison from the U.S.M. Ariston, from the USCM. Please state you-"

"I have nothing to state before you. You are trespassing and will be apprehended soon. Cooperate and all will go well."

"Wait a minute, trespassing? This planet is open ground, we are on an authorized retrieval mission."

But the connection was broken only.

Morrison ordered his men to just salvage anything that looked mammal and then stay on alert, there seemed to be a complication and it was best to stay put till it was resolved.

The wait seemed to last for hours, but it was little over thirty minutes before silhouettes parted from the fog. By that time, all their work was done and the troopers waited anxiously.

Strangers in uniforms of Space Marines appeared, but they lacked any insignia identifying them. Their equipment was well financed and their behavior controlled and orderly, unlike they themselves. Professionals in front of a second rate faction.

"In name of the Interstellar Alliances, I demand to know what System you serve." Morrison spoke firmly, but was unable to hide the shiver in his voice.

"In the name of the same Alliances, we hold no responsibility to explain you anything." someone called back, yet none stepped forward to identify themselves as leader.

"Look, we're all on this planet for whatever reason, but we shouldn't make things difficult on each other. We found traces of xenomorph a while back and —" Morrison tried.

"There are no more xenomorph."

"You killed them already?"

"No. Now, accompany us back to your vessel. Take those bags there with you."

"What's going on?" one of Morrison's men called, an unveiled hint of panic in his voice. "Come on men, we're all marines, what's this about?"

The one nearest Morrison now spoke, rather softly : "If you haven't investigated that space craft, we would have been able to avoid this."

"This? What .... it's about that thing?"

"Just follow us and there will be no problems."

Morrison had always been a man of obliging to the rules, believing they would resolve everything.

Sometimes it's best to look a little further past what makes the rules tick, he realized shortly after.

**· · · · · · · **

Upon opening his eyes again, the first thought to cross Jonah's mind was a warning, for it had become darker and soon the cold would become too much ..... heck, it was cold already. Instinctively he struggled with his stiff limbs to get up from the soaked ground.

_I survived?_

He tried looking around, who had saved him? Had any of his companions come?

Not enough view like this .....

He set his elbows against the ground and tried to get up, only to find himself falling. The slimy surface of the rock he lay on offered no hold and he nearly slipped into the black water. But something solid caught him in the stomach. It pushed him back onto the rock, and then withdrew. Confused, Jonah straightened the glasses on his nose and tried to see. Contact lenses would have been so useful right now, if only he hadn't been squicked by the idea of putting them onto his eyes.

It had been a long, white arm that felt like bone with a layer of skin atop of it and it belonged to a large white blur.

Said blur was inhumanly large, yet had a skull like face somewhere in the middle, he couldn't tell what fit where exactly. Straining his eyes, perhaps it had a long neck that hung low and .... a crest? Also, four legs, half sunken into the marsh but he could see it sat like a dog.

No, that hadn't been an arm, that had been a tail.

Now, Terra Mirror was a weird place, but not unusual. He could see no way anything that ever had lived here would become this thing. Dimly the form reminded of a xenomorph queen, yet they were black. The only black about this creature were its eyes.

A beep drew his attention away. He pulled the counter forward and learned that his oxygen tank was nearly empty.

"Oh crap."

Quickly he tried to get his location on his tc, but the jolt and the water had destroyed it. It cursed again as it zapped his fingers and it dropped into the water.

Now the shape before him moved again, extending a thin hand towards the dropped object and offering it back to Jonah.

A little surprised, he said : "No use."

Even stranger, he seemed to be understood. The creature drew back its hand and brought the tc to its face for a closer look. But the human had no time to wait, he needed a new oxygen tank.

He carefully stepped off the rock and at the same moment the monster stood up on two legs. Jonah fell back, startled, but the creature made no move to attack him. In fact, it walked away. With beating heart, Jonah remained where he was for a minute, then crawled back onto his feet and .... waited. He wasn't sure for what. But he was supposed to wait.

Soon the monster emerged from the mists again, now it carried something dark and dangling. Jonah realized quickly what it was.

The corpse was dropped before him, partially intact. He could see the stun gun in the belt, the weapon he recognized too ... but the head and arms ...... there, blood and melting skin dropped off the cracked bones. A wave of nausea set over Jonah, the fact he couldn't see any details didn't really help.

He pulled the mask off of his face and vomited.

Why was it showing him this? Did it like upsetting its dinner before it ate? Was that why it had waited till he had woken up? The burst of adrenaline he had needed finally announced itself.

He tried to flee, he fell and crawled up again and his mind went blank. Dimly aware of the monster behind him standing up, he hurried right into a pool, half swam, half struggled to the other side. His oxygen tank he lost in the process and he was gaping for air before he reached the other shore.

It was there already. He looked up through a haze of his weak eyes and filthy water, not to be killed but to see it hold out something.

The soldier's oxygen tank.

He hesitated, long enough for the monster to reach down and pull him out, setting him on another rock. There it put the tank in his lap. For a few more seconds the human just stared, then he rapidly placed the tank on his back and the mask over his face.

Fresh air streamed into his lungs and a sense of relief into his mind .... along with something else.

A simple form of happiness, like that of a child. Jonah hadn't experienced something like this since he was little, and he guessed it was because he had survived, right?

"Thank you." he muttered. More of that strange happiness.

He raised a hand with the thought of trying to pet the monster, not knowing a better reaction.

She responded in a disturbingly human way : it took his hand.

It was new to her, but not to him, so she had learned it from him. They withdrew their hands at the same moment.

Jonah knew next to nothing about the sixth sense, it had always been this elusive, annoying deus ex machina from cheap stories. But this, this had to be something like it. There were no sounds or even any semblance of spoken sentences, and he had trouble distinguishing with what were his emotions and those that belonged to the creature.

He breathed in slowly and deliberately, trying to place this experience into his previously dull life.

Facing a strangely xenomorphic entity that attempted to communicate with him through emotions, stuck on a rotting planet while Marines without insignia walked around trying to kill him .... more? This was her gift of information, there were many more and they all lacked the signs. She had seen Jonah's companions too and noticed they did have signs .... the others didn't.

Her thoughts gradually wove together with his until he could see her memories as if they were his own. The emulation of minds only clarified a few things though. The fear and confusion was his, the sight hers, as was the loneliness.

The wish to kill the murderers, he wasn't sure about that. But he had to go save his companions.

"Do you want to come with me?" he asked.

She did.

"We need help and you won't be lonely if you come with me." he continued muttering.

She needed to answer a second time before he understood, wordlessly relaying that she wanted to follow. Going home. She knew that too.

This planet wasn't home, never had been, even though she had never known home either.

**· · · · · · · **

This was not exactly comfortable. Seated on her skeletal back was quite a challenge on its own, he could easily fall off with what little he saw and his freezing limbs really didn't help.

She didn't like the cold either and she absolutely hated the darkness. Off course she could still 'see' in it, but she liked using her real eyes, even if they weren't very sharp. Just like his. Jonah couldn't help but wonder whether this was why she had taken a liking to him. Simple identification can bring companionship very far, though were it goes never is a certainty.

Now they were going somewhere warm, she had promised. It made him smile at first, but then the images came. A form of sight neither consisting of colors, nor sound, until his brain added this to the vision.

It wasn't just warmth, it was fire. The ship on which he had arrived was burning, bodies were inside, pipes exploding, enemies leaving it behind .....

They had done it. Those people, who ever they were, they had killed them. He hadn't known them well at all, but they hadn't deserved this, they'd been his companions .... the enemy would kill him too.

In tandem with the rise of his hatred, she added hers. He hated them, so she hated them.

_Would he like to go and kill them? She had killed all the nasty black brood once. These would be easier._

Yes, he would like that. He hadn't considered murder ever before, but she made it seem so easy. It was a matter of survival after all. But he didn't like gore. Maybe just leave them to suffocate?

But if they pursued them, then they couldn't go to the warmness.

It didn't matter, he let her know. That fire would go out eventually, but if they went off this planet, they could find more warmth than anything here. They would use those people.

Her instincts dulled his moral objections, his logic overpowered her simple desires and so they became a slave to each other.

The monster changed direction to the vessel in which the enemy had arrived.

It didn't take_ too_ long before Jonah stepped off onto a higher boulder, peering out just over the mist. His new friend went ahead and soon the screaming started while he calmly sat down with crossed legs.

The air was too moist for the flame throwers and the gasses made it too dangerous. They couldn't see in the fog and she was too cold for thermal vision, yet lacked the electromagnetic field that the normal Internecivus Raptus already had little of. These little facts pleasingly mused through Jonah's head, and he used them to direct her how she ought to fight. It was like a video game and he had the remote control.

Her rage and power was so fascinating, death didn't look very scary like this. Here a missing limb, there a head torn off .... and he was safe here. Survival! How much more .... satisfying in real life.

Whenever she needed it, he responded by offering her a new strategy to trick the men. He was dimly aware of the man who tried to sneak up on him, but it didn't worry him.

"~ _I'm insane. _~" he thought when observing his detached attitude. Turning his head slowly, he saw his enemy's weak spot. Not alert, opening from below .... with the sudden speed of adrenaline and an unfamiliar instinct, he had leaped up and forced the soldier's riffle upward. They both fell off the slippery boulders.

Jonah ignored a punch to the face and brought his hands to the soldier's face, pulling off the oxygen mask and forcing him under water.

This was self defense, right? He had to kill to survive. It was good. All that mattered was the safety of the family.

_What family?_

With a sudden inhale, he pulled back.

The soldier struggled up, Jonah now saw he'd already been injured by his friend. No wonder he had gotten the advantage.

The riffle ... there. He lunged for it and aimed, but didn't shoot. The adrenaline that had seemed so helpful just moments before now sent his heart racing almost painfully.

He had allowed her instincts to control him too much.

"~ _We need them alive! We need them to fly off away with us!_ ~" The thoughts raced through his head, but she only caught slowly onto their complicated meaning.

She kept killing, but by the time she arrived at Jonah's side with a stream of acid behind her, she obliged to his will.

"~ _We need tactic too ....._ ~"

Pointing the riffle at the trooper, he said dryly said :"You are the last human aside of me on this planet. I'm the one with the weapon. I am the one with the alien friend. You have two options, I am sure you can guess either."

**· · · · · · · **

The vessel's hatch opened to the docks of a nameless ship in orbit.

A man in a mud covered jacket stepped onto the dock, wearing an Enigma oxygen tank. At his side walked something akin to an Internecivus Raptus queen, yet with eerie human traits that pushed the creature into the uncanny valley to all those who beheld her : where the jaws of a queen would be was a sad skull-like face, half hidden under the corona. Translucent skin covered the entire being, rendering it a sickly white in contrast to the black it should have been.

The marines weren't certain whether they would have preferred the familiar rampaging queen or this quiet, haunting being. They didn't understand either why she — and they — didn't attack.

Not until one of the androids made a move did they get the idea to move, but here the human queen shot forward and destroyed the android, only to return to her docile moaning just as quick.

The humans still stood there, and they ignored the words of the ship that commanded them to act.

One by one, those who responded to their confusion by upwelling rage dropped to the ground and cringed, clutching invisible wounds and screaming. Those who surrendered to the fear froze, but only a few understood the power at work. It was the power they have come to claim, and it had come to them .... it had become matured and ready to be used, and in enemy hands.

Jonah noted this information with casual interest and didn't dwell on it. Evil scientists, what else was new? In a stoic trance, he made his way through the ship and harvested thoughts until he reached the control chambers.

Here the general and his subordinates suffered from the visions too, while Jonah was spared of them in the mental embrace of the chimera. He only experienced her massive presence, clinging to the little stability he offered; the experience of her murders she instead shared with the soldiers of this ship.

Telepathy, empathy, clairvoyance, they were powerful yet once you had them, amazingly mundane. It was difficult though, like solving maths had been in his childhood. He wanted to control the ship so they could leave, he needed them to obey because he lacked the knowledge to control the ship .....

Enigma? Yes, that's what this place belonged to. He watched the men on the ground cringe as he tried to break into their minds without getting caught in the visions, and then he wondered why he didn't care for their pain. Even if he wanted it for them, he had never been able to watch something suffer .... why now?

Enigma .... they had to leave.

Any sense of urgency or compassion was drowned by the chimera : she only rejoiced in the warmth that she had always needed.

New experiences, and best of all, she had found her parent. She was born to follow her parent. The parent hadn't been there.

He hated these humans. She agreed.

He thought these humans were dangerous. She agreed.

He thought they had to leave. She agreed.

He thought she had to continue locking these people in fear, except the ones they needed to leave. She agreed.

He thought she had to hurt them if they thought of hurting either of them. She very agreed.

Today had been a good day for her. Many new things. Joy and hate. Good to be so alive.

And now, they were going to leave the cold.

Father was going to do it.

**· · · · · · · **

The fires of the salvage ship soon ceased burning and life on Terra Mirror continued dying. The planet became empty again, like it had been before the humans had come.

The ship in orbit that carried no name left.

But before perfect silence would step in, another ship would land, not too long after the departure of the nationless queen. It came merely to pick up the remains of the missing soldiers and the people that died in an accident trying to get their remains.

No one officially reported the strange sight they found near an inexplicable crater. They had found the shell of a praetorian in the process of becoming a queen, but it had burst open from the inside. They took it along off record, and that was that.

**· · · · · · · **

_Author's Note : fixed up as of 2010-04-15._**  
**


	3. Cancelled Emotions

**· · · · · · · **

**· Chapter III · Canceled Emotions ·**

**· · · · · · · **

_Year : 2577, October 31_

_Classified Location, proceed to Planet Temple._

**· · · · · · · **

Sleeping was no better than waking. With his pillow and blanket, Jonah was lying on the floor aside of his bed, like he had done long ago with long gone friends. Whispering about unraveling the mysteries of the universe, drifting between fantasies of adventure and glory, being total empty headed morons ...

Now, he was resolving a mystery of the universe : the DNA of the biomechanic Internecivus Raptus, if it could be called DNA at all.

He hated every inch of it, for there was nothing glorious about it. Reality wasn't about heroes and villains, it was about civilization, those that benefited its flourishing and the things that were a danger to it. Stories no longer stirred anything in him, he only had the memory of excitement and no more.

He stood up and walked to a nearby cryogenic container. His hand lingered on it, then he reached for the cold bottle and took it with him to a desk. After a few minutes of waiting for the temperature to rise, he took a syringe and injected himself with the fluid. It was his salvation from her mind and heart, at the cost of his emotions.

She already knew, he was sure, but she couldn't make him suffer for what he did, not anymore.

"Doctor Bayard, report to laboratory B-21 immediately."

He slowly looked up at the intercom.

"I will be there soon," he said.

"You'll be here _now_!"

The voice was tensed, angry, but Jonah experienced nothing. He stored the bottle and changed into his laboratory clothing, not particularly hurried.

Before he left, he halted to stare at a motionless shimmer in a dark aquarium. Still, he felt nothing. If he had, that shimmer wouldn't be here, would it? Then he was on his way.

The trouble could be heard in the middle sterilization cell already. Doctor Sullivan was furious. The man was in charge, so he was allowed to lose his temper and he did it oh so well. As soon as he caught sight of Jonah, he stampeded towards him and glared up into his eyes, mere inches between them.

"You did this!"

A brief rush of nervousness was blissfully killed off by the drug, and Jonah looked down into Sullivan's face. Jonah was a little taller than him, which unfortunately meant he always looked down the man. Hm, why didn't all scientists decide to take the drug? All these outbursts were so pointless.

"What did I do, doctor?"

Sullivan pressed his lips together and grabbed Jonah at the arm, dragging him along. He was slammed against the glass that separated them from an incubation chamber.

Five open eggs, three dead orincubix, two trying to find a way out. The motionless human clones they had been offered were rejected.

"What is this?" Sullivan demanded.

"It seems they are rejecting the hosts," Jonah replied. "I assume you blame me for this?"

"Well, who has been in charge of cloning lately, hm?"

"The previous cloning chief has already warned months ago that the RNA of the clones is decreasing in activity. To the orincubix, they would appear as useless or even dead. Furthermore, the sped of growth process is only increasing the malformations of the clones. Surely I do not have to point out some of them have three arms or multiple mouths?"

"You're saying this is my fault? That's what you're saying, isn't it, you little bastard?"

Jonah shrugged. "I know the procedure. I will be reprimanded, then I will file my report, then you're going to have to admit we need fresh hosts, and for the record, these clones are still from Emerson's career, not mine."

Irritation and overload of stimulation unfortunately were _not _emotional chemicals, and the drug did not hold those back. Sullivan was his everlasting plague, and the faces around him never offered support. Though, they didn't attack him either, for they were all on the same rock. Nobody here dreamed.

"You just don't care, do you? You and that damn drug! If I had the authority to take it from you I —"

"Would have to explain to Enigma Blank why you were letting personal vendettas get in the way of protocol." Men like him would twist facts to suit their meaning and would let anger speak for their justice. Jonah had experienced this before, and perhaps the best way to stop it was to point out what exactly Sullivan was doing.

"You ... Get out of my face now!" Sullivan barked. Little drops of spit landed on Jonah's face, and he tensely wiped them off. Then he left.

"We'll get you strong people to clone," Sullivan muttered under his breath.

**· · · · · · ·**

_Time : 2577 December 5_

_Location : Planet Tartarus, Gytnon city_

**· · · · · · ·**

Like a mechanical rainforest, the hangar filled with chattering as passengers dripped in. A man in a fancy suit soon arrived to deliver a speech about how honored they were to be taking this trip; few cared since they had come for the free holiday rather than the scientific wonders they were about to behold.

Boarding the ship proceeded smoothly, save for a minor incident where a woman dropped a bag. Her things scattered over the floor and she quickly bent down to gather them up. A late pair of legs trampled past her, nearly knocking her over.

"Hey, do you mind?" she muttered, but lacked the courage to call out loud.

A security guard approached her, urging her to hurry up and reprimanding her for not having given her bag to the appropriate luggage transport androids. She pulled her half open bag closed and set her arms across it, just in case he meant to pick it up and carry it away. People tended to do that sort of thing to her, she had taken her bag along exactly because she didn't trust others with her stuff.

"Oh, why did I take it with me?" she muttered, ignoring the man. It was her toothbrush. Her antique toothbrush she would never brush her teeth with.

"Miss, we can't halt everything over one lost item."

He was right, logically speaking she couldn't demand they postpone departure. Reluctantly she stood up, still looking around, but she couldn't see it anywhere. The man escorted her inside.

Once there, it took quite a while before the ship actually took off, so long that Sarah eventually walked to a low window that showed the hangar, hoping to perhaps catch sight of her lost possession. Here she saw two more late passengers arrive. Sarah realized they had been expecting them, and she could have had a few more minutes to look for her lost brush. Irritated, she pressed her lips together. The man who had urged her to go inside was nowhere to be seen, but even if he had been around, she probably wouldn't have gathered up the courage to address him on it.

Common practice for Sarah, people always seemed to assume she was a poor little glitch before they'd even spoken to her. She had to be escorted and helped to follow the rules, how she inspired that she had no idea.

The ship took off, and she went to her designated room. The cafeteria was skipped, she disliked them for being so crowded.

The room was small and simple, very modest and hardly like it was build to belong in a luxurious vacation ship. She liked it this way, neither wasting money on frivolous decoration yet having enough pride for a few luxuries like a good music installation and 3-D projection. It was delightfully in the middle of balancing comfort and modesty.

She was about to make herself comfortable and test out to projection set, when someone knocked. Who ever knocked on doors to announce themselves in this day and age?

"Yes?" Sarah called.

"I found your toothbrush," someone whispered on the other end.

Happily surprised, Sarah practically jumped to the door.

Her tooth brush entered right away, with a lingered-fingered hand attached. Sarah promptly took it and blurted out, "Thank you so much!" but when she had a second look, she fell silent.

The pale hand belonged to a person whose age seemed impossible to guess. Her white face was half hidden behind a coll-sweater and curly brown hair, a ruffled skirt that went down to the floor. Contrast to her overall fuzzy look, there was a huge leather backpack strapped onto her. Her form made her suspect a mutant, as the woman had large, dilated eyes, very little eye white. Sarah had her complaints about the way she was treated, but she knew that was nothing compared to the mutants that had been showing up in the last decades, the unfortunate result of too much petridish fiddling.

Perhaps not that beautiful, but the woman, or girl, had a certain delicacy.

How long she'd been staring she didn't know, but slowly Sarah started to feel like waking up, and remembered her manners.

"Want something to drink? You've gotta forgive me if I serve bad stuff, I haven't tried out the services here yet," Sarah said and she turned away. While she ordered something from the wall, the woman noiselessly came in, making very small steps as she went to the farthest chair.

"So, what's your name?" Sarah said as joined her, only briefly wondering why she hadn't asked _what _the woman wanted to drink.

"Eleanor Denarii. Please call me Kirindi."

"Hm, an unusual nickname, I bet there's an interesting story behind that."

"I don't know about interesting, I think it a sad story. It's not _my_ story, though," she said, indicated she wasn't going to share just yet.

"Well then, I'm Sarah Donovinh, nice to meet you," Sarah said kindly, restraining herself from asking about the story anyway.

"You can ask me if you want ... I might not answer though."

Sarah frowned, and for a moment dared think she had come across something unusual, beyond the mutant part. "Did I get you the right drink?"

"Off course," Kirindi said with a pleased, childlike expression.

Sarah leaned her cheek on her hand and thought, "~ Are you telepathic? ~"

Her guest widened her smile a little and said, "Yes."

"Huh ..." was all Sarah could say. Since when did miracles of nature just casually walk into one's room and announced "_hi, I'm here, let me share this secret with you that could end me up on some dissection table_".

"You won't tell, you find it fascinating and I would like someone to talk to. I choose well whom I let in."

Sarah should be freaked out, but instead a very cozy, soothing feeling overcame her. Like being home, and home was a planet with morning sun and freestanding houses and fields. At least, that was what Sarah's ideal looked like. Kirindi was very careful to hide what her own ideal home appeared as. It didn't matter. Present a geek with a freak of nature, and they will ask a hundred questions. Sarah was no different and did not neglect the invitation.

Kirindi replied to any non-personal question, explained how telepathy and empathy worked, summed up incidents that were related, knew her way around interstellar species and was a bit up to date on Auton too. Thinking up convoluted theories was more Sarah's territory, but Kirindi was eager to offer supportive or detracting facts.

Sarah considered herself to have guessed right, that this woman like herself was an outcast of society, but she'd met many of those. The last she had befriended someone was at college, ever since they had gone their own ways, she had been hoping to just walk into someone. She hadn't counted on finding someone in the outer rims, but then again, she hadn't accounted for telepaths either.

She didn't even remember looking out of the window as they left the atmosphere.

**· · · · · · ·**

The next day Kirindi had knocked on Sarah's door again, much to Sarah's pleasure, and had invited her to defeat a few people in the game hall. That was not something to Sarah's tastes, but Kirindi had somehow persuaded her.

Strategy games were their target, and as they played on Sarah started to notice she somehow knew the opponent's ideas. Kirindi just smiled at her frowns. Telepathy was more than just reading minds, she once had read, transmitting information was part of it too, if strong enough. There should have been fear or objection to Kirindi messing around like this, but they were strangely absent.

Why not? So telepathy existed, why wouldn't she just accept it and take a little advantage? Cheating alright, no question, but it felt wonderful to come out on top for a change.

She didn't always win, sometimes the opponents were still better no matter what she knew ahead or not, but they just as often won themselves. The opponents meanwhile got a little spooked eventually, and the next day they didn't have anyone more to play with.

There were plenty of other things to do on the ship, though.

Movies did nothing to Kirindi, something Sarah attributed to boredom. For a telepath, movies probably lacked a whole dimension that wasn't so easily suspended from disbelief. But as time went on, Sarah realized it might be a different thing altogether. She didn't understand art, at all. Yet, she could enjoy it because Sarah enjoyed it, by borrowing her emotions in response.

That huge backpack never disappeared. She must be very possessive of her items, another thing Sarah liked. After all, she herself was also quite protective of her memories. Well, not _this _careful, but still, Kirindi could have a hoarding obsession or something. Any curiosity at the contents of the backpack remained unanswered.

A day before arrival, they had finally decided to eat in the cafeteria, simply to conduct a little test for the sake of self-satisfaction. There was a window table that gave a wonderful view onto a nearby nebula, and every day it would be occupied by the same group of people.

True enough, these people soon came over, a little miffed, and requested they find another table. Surely two people would not need this large table? Kirindi simply looked up with those dark eyes and caught them in, never blinking once.

"No, we're fine here. Why would _you _need this large table, when you had it all others days already?"

They gave up amazingly quick and moved to another table. Sarah looked after them as they went and so her eyes passed the many other people who had gathered here. At this point, she noticed the first curiosity.

There were so many different people here, anything from refined looking gentlemen to rough mercenary types, all secluded into fitting groups by own choice. Even mutants and geeks were represented in her and Kirindi. Almost as if someone had made a collection of as many varied people as possible while still having enough for a control group, instead of choosing people who would understand anything about what they would see.

Hm, a curious thought. But before she could wonder whether it had been Kirindi's opinion, the woman raised her hand lightly and pointed at a particular table.

There sat a tall, tan man in his thirties and a younger woman who dressed like she knew she was attractive. The men that had approached them earlier tried to join their table, and were obvirously hitting on the young woman. Them they did not try to send away.

But the woman just laughed, told him to get lost and lifted him a leg when he did so.

"Ah, I wish I had the guts for that," Sarah mused.

"Want to have it, really?" Kirindi asked oddly.

Sarah smiled only briefly. "It's not that easy."

They ordered their food, and Sarah once again noticed that Kirindi's diet was bizarre to say the least. She had favorites, but there was no disctint theme on what she liked, sweet, bitter... sometimes it seemed to just be about the shape of the food. This was one of those things Kirindi did not answer about, too.

Their peace didn't remain for long.

"What was that all about?" someone snapped. When Sarah turned, she saw the woman from just before. Long, black hair, black outfit like she wanted to star in some cheap action game, and instant dislike on Sarah's behalf.

"I saw you laugh. Did you send that guy to be annoying to me? I saw you stare at him when they came to your table and he turned around like a scared dog."

"Why would she do that? _How _would she do that?" Sarah said casually and crossed her arms. "You might consider you attract unwanted attention due to the way you dress."

"I was not talking to you!" the woman snapped.

"He thought I wasn't human, so he left," Kirindi softly said.

Sarah didn't think that was enough and added : "You have an attitude problem, miss, making random accusations like that. But it's okay, you're probably just trying to compensate for your low intelligence." She could hardly believe she had the gut to say that. Maybe Kirindi was boosting her confidence somehow?

Now she had the woman's attention, in the form of a furious glare and a few fish-mouted attempts as forming a witty reply.

"Rynth got your tongue?" Just how dumb was this woman?

"You're lame," she just said. But instead of walking away, she got a chair and sat down. "So, you're so smart, eh? Provide me some exposition on what they're investigating on that place we're going to."

"It's explanation, exposition is for fiction. And how can you even be aboard this vessel and not know?"

"Got invited. Could use the free holiday. But knowing those, we're probably going to fight against monsters and evil scientists at some point." She shrugged and ordered a drink from the service wall, while Sarah rolled her eyes. "Doesn't matter, I get a free holiday till then. So what's your names?"

"Eleanor Denarii. She is Sarah Donovinh."

"I am Shadhahvar."

Sarah took out a pocket computer and accessed the passenger list, using a few easy tricks. "Oh really? According to this, your name is Mary Sue Mckenzie."

"Shadhahvar is cooler. So where are we heading?"

"Will you get lost if I tell you?" Sarah asked irritably.

"Sure."

"We are headed to a private research laboratory near planet Temple. It is called Enigma II. They research various alien lifeforms to find cures for illness, and they stand at the roots of what little progress or world still makes. Now you can leave."

"Sounds like a typical evil science place, yeah. Always is when they start talking about benefit of the world. So what are we supposed to do there?"

"We were given another short introduction when we first came into the cafetaria. Have you not paid attention at all?"

"Nah, some guys were making a fuss about my babies."

Sarah raised an eyebrow. Kirindi tilted her head, then said with a little smile : "She means her weapons."

"The station is attempting to increase better public relationships. Up until now, the government had to deny their existence due to the ridiculous controversy. We're going there to discredit the rumors," Sarah slowly said. Off course it was far more complicated, the reason for the sudden need for public recognition was beyond the comprehension of this woman.

"You don't like me, do you?" Shadhahvar asked.

Sarah hardly controlled her laughter. "Oh goodness, please. Off course I do not. You barge to my table accusing my friend of being telepath, without proper reason, and then demand to be educated about things you should already know."

Shadhahvar glared at her, but still didn't take the hint to leave. "Hey, Kiri, do you ever take that backpack off? I never saw you without the freaking thing."

"I need to keep it close by for safety," Kirindi mumbled.

A slight tapping noise was heard; Sarah was kicking her foot against the legs of the table. "Don't bother talking to her, it's none of her business. I know all about keeping my things close. They tend to get stolen and then tossed on lampposts or into toilets. I've been to highschool too."

"Oh, so sad for you," Shadhahvar said in a whiny tone.

"Anyway, Kirindi, back on the human position towards nature. While I certainly don't agree with the idea we should worship it or return to living in caves, I suppose some changes need to be made. So what do you think about the latest terra-forming techniques?"

Kirindi strangely looked at Shadhahvar for a moment, but then took Sarah's silent invitation to ignore her till she left. Shadhahvar tried to pop in a few more questions, but when receiving no replies, she finally left.

"What an arrogant snob," Sarah remarked while disdainfully looking after her.

"You are arrogant too," Kirindi bluntly informed her.

"Excuse me?"

"You always think about people as smart or dumb. You think you are smart and you think she is lesser for being dumb."

"I think she's lesser for being _arrogantly_ dumb."

"No, it's just because you think she's dumb. You act nice to dumb people in a condescending way, only if they respect you first."

"Look, I can't think highly of people like that, okay?"

"But nature's beings can change the way they think, don't they? They can do it themselves. I have seen them do it. Humans and yautja _can_, if they want to. And then the soul from the past does not exist anymore."

"Oh? You speak if as you can't, then what are you?"

"I am just Kirindi."

**· · · · · · ·**

Almost it had seemed Kirindi had made another friend. That would have been made things even more difficult.

She had been told strictly to not mingle with the crowd for safety reasons. The true reason was that she would get attached, which might just get in the way.

Karga'te had warned them for this once, that her mind was hive oriented and she would look for a companion where ever she went. Off course, he had added this to hammer home why he didn't think they really counted as alive, for she didn't — couldn't — do so with androids.

Sarah Donovinh had been chosen for intellect, and this worried him. Any human would get suspicious after seeing another wear a backback for six days straight. This could be averted if she had just stayed out of sight long enough, but no, a toothbrush had ruined it. He couldn't leave her alone for a second!

He could only hope the human would assume Kirindi was a mutant with a malformation to hide.

The food on his plate posed a metaphoric barrier, a notion he quickly deleted. Then he proceeded to feign eating it, while storing it in a fake stomach for a later visit to a garbage burner.

**· · · · · · ·**

Jonah leaned against the window that gave view to the hangar, mildly realizing he should be disturbed at his own interest in seeing the future hosts.

Behind him, Schrödinger rapidly typed on his keyboard, producing an endless chain of repetitive irritation.

"When will you be gone?" Jonah asked flatly.

"Just a while. We don't want the welcoming speech messed up, do we?"

"This _holiday before death_ charade is useless. Let's just get it over with and store them."

"Can't. Pilots of the ship requested to stay for a day. Gotta keep up the charade."

"Since when does Sullivan care?" Jonah muttered.

"Since the moment you disagreed with him about it."

Once, Jonah might have frantically started listing reasons why it was pointless, but in this state of mine, he only experienced the tick-tick of the keyboard, which was more of a physical nuisance than an emotional one. That, and the sort of food Schrödinger had in his bag. Onions?

"You plan on eating here?" Jonah asked coolly.

"Off course, you'll shut an eye for me, won't you?" Did that man honestly fail to understand when he wasn't wanted? How could this man possibly make a credible android?

The metallic androids had been reintroduced by Dr. Elcyon of Enigma IV. While mindless robots were dangerous if anyone where to get a hold of them, for a station such as this they were preferred : marines died too easily when the brood got itself free, rare as that was.

The passenger ship arrived, and Jonah, having nothing better to do, kept his eyes on it. Docking, standard procedure, and then many little ants swarmed out of it. They'd be very dead soon.

His view was suddenly interrupted by a holographic projection. Hm. Jonah quickly looked over it, it was the Philidon's passenger list. A few faces were selected and enlarged, while Schrödinger said : "Look at this one, lovely, no?"

"I will not look at this," Jonah said as he sidestepped a few meters and continued watching the ants.

"Why not? Afraid of pity? Don't bother, you sold your soul the day you took a job here."

Jonah shrugged and still looked at the ants. He didn't want to know their names, that was all. Schrödinger still didn't get the hint.

"But you are looking. Utara and me designed those eyes, remember? You can count the hairs on their heads. Come here, proof you're not feeling pity on some purely intellectual level."

The sad part was that Schrödinger, due to his profession, never had tasted the emotive killer drug. While he understood cyberspace and machines, he did not understand neurology. There was little use explaining him he really wasn't feeling anything.

He looked. He saw many meaningless letters.

Then he saw Sarah Donovinh.

There was no actual emotion, but there was the frame of his mind and memories that caught the name. Calmly they processed it, and found it unacceptable that that name was there.

"Schrödinger, did you perhaps receive any special orders concerning the selection of Host Import 042?"

"Yeah ... now you mention it, I had to add someone special to the list. Sillyvan asked for it himself. I just did it."

Jonah cast another glance out of the window and saw a chubby figure with blond hair, his friend from high school, as she left the Philidon. How unorthodox emotions seemed right now, such as the spite that must have inspired Sullivan's payback.

Sarah was what he would call a friend, and even without active emotions, it became apparent to him that he still considered her thus. She would not become a recyclable host. He needed a little word with the general now.

Schrödinger straightened his back with an uncomfortable crack and watched Jonah speed out of the control chamber.

"Utara, what was that all about?"

The AI answered as stoic as she ought to : "Personal human matters."

He sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I'll figure it out myself."

Hacking the date of Jonah's eyes, he found what he had been looking at : one random person, and it was the name he had been asked to add. While staring at the enlarged view on his monitor, Schrödinger became increasingly aware of the pale woman with curly brown hair, standing at Sarah's side. She didn't move, didn't blink, and stared somewhere with eerie, non-blinking eyes. It took him a minute to calculate that with this camera angle, she was staring right at his position.

He should be unsettled, and make note to Utara that there was a potential telepathy amongst the hosts. But somehow, he felt very relaxed and at ease, like he wasn't even on this rotten station.

How long he'd been staring he didn't know, but it felt like he was slowly waking up.

**· · · · · · ·**


	4. Everyone's Secrets

**· · · · · · · **

**· Chapter IV · Everyone's Secrets ·**

**· · · · · · · **

Leaving the passenger ship had proceeded as planned. After the first digital headcount he had sneaked away.

The ventilation shafts of the station was ridiculously wide and allowed him to crawl through. While the specific design purpose of such airshafts alluded his logic, he possessed enough imagination to think perhaps the scientists liked a mobile hiding area in case the drones got out. So he mused while hacking the station's main A.I. system, holed up in a small maintenance chamber.

Curiously, he found two more active AI systems aside of Utara, ... no, just two, but one was split up. No such records they had found when researching this station, and he made note of it for more scientifically advanced androids to investigate later. For now, he was looking for the lowest levels of Enigma II, specifically a certain mundane storage room. It was a nice, neglected spot that due to human design imperfections served little to not purpose anymore. It was not cleaned, it was not used, and beyond its architect it was not _known_. A perfect spot to install a bomb that would have to detonate in time ... like, five years from now.

Time is trivial for an Auton, and he was not plagued by impatience or anxiety.

**· · · · · · · **

Before entrance, they all had been given a vaccination shot, quite harmless, really, in case they caught a virus that was studied here. Then, a simple welcoming speech had been given, no more than Sarah expected since there were much less educated people amongst the visitors. Likewise, the guest quarters were plain and small, many had preferred to remain on the ship.

Now, the clock ticked an imaginary afternoon. Sarah entered the cafeteria of the station, Kirindi followed her with unusual shyness. Ever since they had arrived, her quietly playful nature had made way for a cautious one. Sarah for her turn was becoming increasingly irritated. They got to see a grand amount of nothing significant, not even any of the scientists had been introduced to them. All they had seen was some equipment. Sarah had handwaved it with the scientists being busy, but now she stood in the hall where they'd receive lunch, and there they were, chatting with each other.

Amongst the visitor group a number of other scientists was. They approached the group, were as good as ignored. Literary. They were simply stared at and not got a single word of acknowledgment. Maybe it was just her new found confidence, but Sarah was positively enraged. Kirindi tugged Sarah's arm, and Sarah noticed she'd been staring. Changing view from the Enigma scientists to the pale woman brought something calming, and Sarah followed her to a far off table.

"They're treating us like we're imbeciles," Sarah muttered under her breath. People passed them to other table as the tourguide urged them to keep a distance from the Enigma staff, they had been through a difficult time lately with taxing experiments. Two people stopped before Sarah and Kirindi's table, and Sarah recognized the boots of one of them. Looking up, there were the two mercenaries.

"Leave," she snapped, louder than intended.

"The other tables are almost full, and I'm getting the feeling right now is not the time for my friend here to start kicking a fuss with someone. I saw her sit at your table and not yell a few days ago, so I'm taking my chances with your displeasure," said the man. He waited no further and pulled out two chairs.

Food was served and Sarah did her very best to ignore the table manners of the woman, vaguely wondering whether the Enigma scientists had a similar distaste of the 'normal crowd' as she had of this person here. The man knew how to use tableware, but the woman was a disaster. Sighing, she reached for her glass and took a zip. The moment she swallowed she started to cough.

"My glass!" Shadhahvar stood up and snatched it away, spilling green splashes onto the table. "Daulnori Faria is nothing for nerds, you thief!"

"Shady, it was an accident. Calm down," the man tiredly said.

At that moment, the tourguide left the group. Sarah noticed Kirindi raising her head and the two mercenaries shoving their chairs closer to the table. The man now spoke, and his voice was deeper and warning : "Shady said you two are smart. Noticed anything off about this place?"

For the first time, Sarah really looked at them and wondered whether this was part of some joke. Shadhahvar seemed nothing but a teen brat with a vain expression, but the man's weathered face had something assuring. Though his hair was long and he wore a torn jacket, he somehow made a reasonable impression on her.

"I wouldn't know," she said with feigned disinterest, though she could not deny something indeed was off. Like, everything about this reception.

"It's little things. They way they have built their halls. The kind of scanners they have. The low number of guards. All ventilation shafts are have overly large entrances. There are little holes in the edge of the halls, I see no other purpose for them but being some sort of offensive," he summed up. Sarah burst in a snorting laughter. Oh, she had noticed some of these things, but she wasn't quite ready to accept any zany evil testing facility theories.

"Miss, I'm serious. I made a recording of our tourguide's voice and analyzed it during a bathroom visit. All repeated words are perfectly identical, he is an Auton."

"I could smell him sweat, he is no Auton," Kirindi said clearly but quietly.

Shadhahvar laughed. "Smell it? Sure." But her companion elbowed her harshly. "Cut it out, Jake!" she whined, but he looked at her with such anger that she shut up. Then he turned back to Sarah.

"Okay, maybe he's not, but there's plenty of other evidence that something is up with this place, like —"

"The tourguide is a cyborg," Kirindi said. For the first time, Sarah felt irritated at Kirindi. "So what if he is? Perhaps they are researching a safe way to build cyborg here."

"I don't know how she knows that, but I do know something is wrong with this place. I've spent most of my life in the company of the twisted side of humanity. We didn't enter this place as guests, we need to get out of here as soon as possible. Didn't you see? They treat us as if we don't exist."

"People ignore others everywhere. School, workspace, restaurants ..." It was so much easier to assume they were just trying to mess with her. Besides, the assumed cyborg was overweight and short, definitely not meant for violent purposes. Deceptive, sure. But not enough to make her panic.

"Enough now. What do you want of me?"

"According to Shadhahvar, you could get access to the passenger list with a few clicks only. I was hoping, you know, that you were some kind of genius. Usually when we're in this kind of pinch, me and Shady always manage to pick up a — no offense meant — geek who works out the technical parts of our escape." If Sarah had been waiting for an excuse to dismiss all she had heard, then this was her turn to laugh.

"You're so afraid, aren't you?" Kirindi said, staring at her hands. "Oh, look, new natives coming here."

Jake saw them first. A few more Enigma scientists, most of the older people. One stood out, a bright blond head that belonged to a young man who could have passed for an Auton even if he were flesh and blood. He looked around oddly, and his gaze settled on their table. Behind him, Sarah jumped up and shouted : "Jonah! Oh my, ...I can't believe it, Jonah!"

The next moment he was forcefully hugged. With some reserve he detached her and seemed to remind himself to laugh; a stiff laugh as if he were trying to imitate hers. If he were an Auton, or a cyborg, he did a poorer job at impersonating humanity than the tourguide did. From this distance, Jake could not hear what was being said, but Sarah soon returned and was nothing but cheer and brightness. She swung her bag across her back and declared : "That's my old friend, Jonah Bayard! He is a chief scientist here, can you believe it? Come on, he'll give us a proper tour!"

Kirindi looked like she was about to object, but Sarah grabbed her and virtually dragged her along. Kirindi nearly stumbled over her own feet and fought to remain straight up. Jake thought he saw something strange in the way her long skirt flowed, but then the tables blocked view.

Storm crows forgotten, Sarah only had interest left for her friends now. Jake watched them go, noticed the shocked faces of the other Enigma scientists and the increase of chatter. Some of them left through a third exit.

Shadhahvar poked him, holding out her cup. "What some?"

"No way. I won't be able to sleep for the next 5 day's if I drink that." She smirked, apparently unaware of the new clues. That meant he would have to explain everything all over again in a while, or she wouldn't be able to make the connection between the facts. When the mercenary pack had started making teams, he had picked her as his companion cause she looked tough and hot, and she was skilled in stealth, but for the rest, her intelligence and actual battle skills left to be wished upon. He had been such an idiot in those days.

**· · · · · · · **

"Didn't you promise me a tour?" He remembered he should stumble over his words and said : "Oh, yes, well, I had arranged a clearance pass for you, I mean, I saw you on the passengers list. That whole surprise act was just for fun, I knew you'd like it better that way...anyway, I need to get a new pass for your friend, see, otherwise an alarm will go off and so."

He could imagine how peeved he would have been, had his emotions still worked. This could have worked if Sarah had not turned out to have made a friend. Hm, how interesting. Jealousy was intellectual for a great part, as he was fairly sure he experienced it despite not feeling anything.

It was convenient though, providing an easy excuse to not give her that tour. In a while, she and everyone else would fall asleep. He'd rather have her in his room than somewhere in the halls when that happened.

A few hallways and elevators later, they reached his apartment. Sarah seemed quite surprised, he could guess why : save for the occasional crumbled paper on the ground and his night clothes thrown on the ground, it was a lot more tidy than his student room. Had his emotions been on, he would have taken pride in that.

"Oh my ... you hired a cleaner. It's the 36th miracle in the universe!"

Or maybe not.

Sarah laughed and dumper herself on the couch.

"You are different," he said, a little worried on whether she was experiencing side effects of the drug. Sarah should not be so open.

"You're too ... calm. Calmer than before. Ah well. Why don't you tell me what job you do? Maybe then I'll get it better. All the dry, sciency details please!"

Was she high? Sarah should have her hands folded on her lap and be nervous. Not her feet on the table and her arms spread out on the couch's back, grinning madly.

"Doctor Bayard required in laboratory 15," Utara announced at that moment. Sullivan's home base. Jonah turned to leave.

"I will be back soon. Don't go anywhere, Sarah."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be here, waiting for that tour!" She jumped up and walking to a row of small sculptures line to the wall, then promptly laughed at them.

Now Jonah was seriously worried, but Utara repeated her message. He would worry later. As he walked past the other woman, he stopped. If the cyborg came to collect her, they might take Sarah as well. That was not the agreement he had made with the general, but he trusted none at Enigma II.

She looked at him with those creepy black eyes and softly said, "Should you not hurry, sir? Perhaps it is urgent. We will be fine."

"Bring some doughnuts when you come back!" Sarah yelled at that moment. "We'll be even more fine if we have doughnuts!"

He said nothing to that and the door closed behind him.

Kirindi smiled wearily. A man whose mind she could read only difficultly, for he had no feelings ... poor fool believed it meant he was protected. But only a little. Her sister still heard him, as she did herself. In fact, the two could hear each other stronger through him. Though, it was curious_ how _exactly his emotions were canceled out. It couldn't possibly be drugs, like he believed.

Well. Sarah was currently the greater enigma than he. Kirindi had given her a confidence boost, but now she was acting like she actually her a physical serotonin boost. Something had been in the food in the cafeteria, but all others only became sleepy. Nobody became drunk.

A third riddle came up then, which drew Kirindi's attention away.

In the wall was an aquarium, behind it in the dark was a pale white fetus in thick waters, and she thought no more of Sarah. Dilating her eyes, she gazed into the unlit aquarium. Anudjan had been right. Alive.

"~ _Worry not. You will die soon. Hope so. Pain will end. _~" she gently told it, regretting that she herself could not cease it. A quiet, wordless answer came from a being that did not understand the concept of no pain or end, for suffering was all it had ever known.

What now? Sarah was here. That ruined her escape chances.

She could not go through the door. That would leave too much of a trace.

Perhaps she could access the ventilation shafts in the bathroom.

So wrong all had gone.

"Message for Kirindi," Utara said, this time softly.

Sarah found the bedroom with its waterbed, on which she started to bounce as if she were a five year old child.

Kirindi rolled up her right sleeve, revealing a dark metal gauntlet, she turned it on.

"Kirindi, who are you not on your way?"

"Sarah did not sleep and she would not leave me behind. Sarah has a friend here. He wants her to live."

A few seconds of silence, then the android was up to date.

"Okay. Kirindi, get moving. Do not be soon. The ventilation shaft in the bathroom was accessible."

"Faria herb. Could that be why she does not sleep?"

"What?"

"Another of the guests had it. Sarah accidentally drank it."

"Dammit! Faria herb overrides sleeping drugs, meaning there will be a problem for who ever else drank it."

"We can use it. Shadhahvar will help, she will like it. She can destroy the powersource in my stead, and I will head to stop the impregnation instead, and then to my sister." With that, she broke the contact, not leaving room for argument.

In the bathroom, she started taking off the camouflage clothes. The backpack slid off, revealing six blade like extensions, white like her skin but hard as xenomorph hide. Gladly she unrolled her sharp tail, annoyed of having to walk for days with it curled around her legs, only able to take small steps at a time. She stretched for a moment, then rose to her four toes total and yawned, forming an awful grin with her dark fangs. Then her face slipped back into the humanoid proportions it usually had, leaving on those eyes to betray her inhuman nature.

Out of the backpack she took a few additional pieces of armor and her simple gray outfit, which she always wore at home. She placed them on and then turned her attention to the ventilation shaft. Currently it was locked, but opening it was not too difficult, as it served as hide out for scientists in case of emergencies. Too small for a drone, but she could fit in easily.

Just when she was about to slip in, when Sarah entered and grabbed her tail. Kirindi was a little surprised Sarah snuck up on her, she was unaccustomed to reading drunk minds.

"So you're going too?" Sarah said, barely staying on her feet.

"Yes. I am sorry. You have to stay. You are not in the impregnation room and I cannot take you along. But perhaps you can come later?" Kirindi said.

Sarah blinked. "Ah, good, I don want babies anyway."

Raising her hand, she looked at the tail. "Wow ... it got you real hard, did they? I want a mutant tail too."

Kirindi tilted her head to the side and sadly beheld Sarah. "No. Not a mutant. I am from ... places like here."

Carefully so not to hurt Sarah's hand, she withdrew her tail and vanished into the shaft, sprinting away on all fours.

"People going on adventures without me again ..." Sarah mumbled. She made an attempt to climb into the shaft as well, but fell off repeatedly. It was high, and her hands did not obey as they should. "Stupid people."

She sunk onto the bathroom floor and laughed.

**· · · · · · · **

There were no more hallways before him, only a few catwalks. The engines were cold and the cooling system not as perfect as it should be. He climbed out of the ventilation shafts, nobody would be here for a long time and now that he owned Utara, nothing would see him.

He crossed the hall undisturbed and found his way to a wall of pipes, which he climbed. Just when he had reached the top, where the next tunnel would be, he anomalous sound reached his ears.

The tapping of fingers.

He froze at once, hanging on the pipes in the darkness. Scanning the area, he found nothing, and Utara's records were blank. In fact ... they were blind right here.

A door closed in the distance.

"That's it. Let's head up."

Approaching footsteps on the catwalk right below him. The darkness should hide him, so he silently changed his position, allowing him to look down.

Two men walking, hurried. They were uncomfortable and human. At times like this Y-921 found himself more human than android, for curiosity got the better of him. He waited for them to disappear, then he went down again.

They had come from a chamber with cryogenerators inside. There was no data on this, and his curiosity became stronger. Forbidden information, and the very mother of the ship itself, Utara, did not know it was here? Really?

No locked door. No security. No visitors expected.

At the center of the room, two sealed basins, two xenomorph eggs. Still no information from Utara.

Radiation?

No answers.

Slowly he turned around, walked away, while his imagination played wildly with possible options. Curiosity or not, he could not find out. Soon, this all would not matter. He hoped.

He wasn't on this mission because he believed the xenomorph could not be used for good, but because he knew the humans would not use them for good...and whatever was up with those basins soon would just not matter anymore.

**· · · · · · · **


	5. Monster Friends

**· · · · · · ·**

Jake woke with a burning headache, something so accustomed to him he thought the nasty dream was just one unpleasant side effect of too much liquor or an encounter with the wrong people in the wrong alleys.

The sensation of being moved wasn't all that unusual either. Being wheeled to hospitals tended to involve that. He'd have to escape before arrest, as usual, but that could wait till whatever injury he'd gotten was healed.

Looking through his eyelashes, he saw a slightly warped world pass by.

He didn't feel the slight movement of air either. He was apparently encased in a tube.

Now _that_ was unusual.

... aw crap, twenty years of reality without villains and then he got kidnapped by evil scientists after all.

He closed his eyes and tried to feel the state of his body. Everything seemed just fine.

While he had tried warning some other people, Shadhahvar had continued drinking that horrid stuff and insisting he have some as well. He'd taken some sips to humor her ...

That was probably why he was awake at all. As thrilling as the prospect of escape was, it was equally likely it would only mean he would be awake once they started whatever experiment they had in mind. Probably not something they could do with clones, which meant it had to have a psychological component.

Experiments where he had to be awake to respond, presumably, and didn't get to die soon.

That should be _fun_.

Right. Time to consider escape.

It was a safe guess this tube was sealed pretty well, even if he could kick it open somehow, that would give security plenty of time to react. As the element of surprise was the only in his favor, the best way to wait until they opened it.

Hopefully, Shadhahvar wasn't too drunk to stay still and conclude the same. In the past he had discussed several tricky scenarios with her, and while evil scientists weren't covered amongst them she _had_ to remember the hammering he'd done on "bide your time".

After a while he felt his container being anchored somewhere. He heard muffled voices.

"Everything is ready, doctor Sullivan. I may assume you heard..."

"Yeah yeah, loose host. I'm pretty sure it's all Bayard's fault."

Bayard ... that was the man Sarah Donovinh had left with. Was on their side?

"Doctor Bayard has no been involved in the escape of any test subjects," said an echoing female voice, presumably the ship's AI.

There was a cynical laugh.

"Really? Too bad. I just would need something ..." The man trailed off, then resumed in a more stoic voice. "I have been waiting for months until Regina Insolitax would lay eggs. Two hosts less or not, we will proceed."

_Eggs_?

Jake forced himself to stay calm. It _could_ be Shadhahvar whom had escaped. She wouldn't abandon him, but she probably would do something stupid like run through the halls screaming once she didn't find a way to play guerrilla warfare — Shadhahvar had a somewhat one-tracked mind.

Then there was a click, indicating the containers were locked onto something. The hiss of a closing door followed shortly after. A long silence followed, then the containers slit open with a smooth hiss.

Jake jumped out at once, reached down to check whether he had either knife or gun and found them missing.

Quickly looking around, he found himself in a long hall, filled with open containers in which the other passengers slept. In the wall his left were windows a good ten meters above the floor, behind which a number of scientists stood. They seemed quite upset he was awake, but didn't hold his attention for long.

On the floor below these windows, more containers emerged from the wall. On them were monstrous, slimy seeds, ... eggs?

Jake backed away involuntary, frantically looked around for anything he could do. He'd heard rumors of acidic aliens, never had paid them much heed, but now ...

The eggs opened as if they were alive and released a swarm of pale, spiderlike creatures.

**· · · · · · ·**

The mother of these eggs only laid a batch once in several months, regardless of any stimulation they could administer. Jonah idly wondered how curious and excited he might have been, had his emotions been on. He was interested, but that wasn't quite the same.

Oh look, a host that was awake. Somewhat burly guy, tan, reached for missing weapons, probably one of the fighters. For such a special batch of eggs, they had wanted a most diverse batch of hosts. Jonah thought they should have done better background checks, one could never know what new and obnoxious drugs came onto the market to tamper with the brain.

In response to his casual thoughts on the inevitably violent death of that man, there with a tingle of rage — the sort that made him want to smash things — in the back of his mind. He hadn't been aware of that feeling for years. He knew it, it was the same as when the chimera had been locked away, screaming in his mind. It shouldn't be there at all, but there it was, and he wasn't worried. Not much to feel up front his mind, after all.

He wasn't a fool though. The other scientists fretted and decided on what to do, he just walked to the nearest computer and checked for the chimera's status.

"Checking on your girlfriend again, Jonah?" someone called. He shrugged.

Utara told him the hybrid was in it's prison and asleep. He informed her of suspicions she might try to wake, to which Utara suggested she might be responding to the eggs. It was noted down, but there was no increase in the chimera's sleep protocol. Jonah felt mildly annoyed, but only insofar this emotion resonated with that of the chimera.

He returned to the window and watched. Some of the orincubix had started attaching themselves to hosts, but they were now letting go for some reason. Others that had not yet changed course and scuttled towards the walls, curling up to die. It wasn't a motion in tandem, some took longer to defect than others.

What did happen in tandem was the response of most other scientists, save those who had their emotions disabled like Jonah. Sullivan started to tremble with anger, slowly boiling over until he exploded.

"Someone tell me right now what the hell is going on here!"

A few scientists started to mumble, offer up theories or curse themselves. Sullivan ignored them and turned to Jonah.

"You! You know something, I can see it in your face!"

If Jonah had felt anything personally, aside of that isolated not-his-own-rage, he would have made a remark about how his facial expressions were lacking due to certain drugs; did Sullivan remember them? They were his idea.

When Jonah did not respond beyond turning his face to stare, Sullivan pushed him. Jonah stumbled back against the nearest control panel, his spine right onto the edge. It hurt, but once the feeling subsided, he just sighed.

He thought for a moment, if only to give Sullivan an answer. He didn't want to be fired, after all.

The chimera might be the cause of the emotion, which suspiciously coincided with this event. However, this had never happened during Regina Insolitax's previous eggs. The orincubix had all behaved as they should, only having failed due to the host bodies being of poor quality. Something had come aboard that altered the game and could possibly affect the sleeping sister ...

"Doctor Sullivan, I have never been told where Amy came from. Whatever caused her, were there more which might have slipped our radar?"

"What?"

"Amy could affect a mass of people into believing they suffered terrible pain. I wonder whether something smarter could affect orincubix to believe their purpose is served."

Fear was one of the things that the drugs affected in him. Lacking this, he had to apply reason to the current situation. The orincubix down there weren't dying, just moving closer to the walls. He was a good counter, the majority of them was congregating below the windows.

There was something on the opposite wall, quick, fast, moving, invisible ...

"You think there's another chimera and it came here?"

"Possibly. Wasn't there an escaped host earlier? Someone should investigate her records, I suppose," Jonah said.

"I'm not going out there, if that host really is ... she looked pretty human too ... and she was with that man who's awake now, ... is he one too?"

"The eggs that resulted in our charming little chimeras were all females," Sullivan grumbled, then grew an odd grin. "Maybe he's the invader's equivalent of Jonah."

"Doctor Bayard, why don't you go check the records?"

Jonah nodded, didn't comment on the fact that Utara could just look it up and tell them, and left. The door closed behind him, he could hear it lock.

He walked to his room. If he was correct, and inside there was a sister of the chimera, then he would rather be out of the way.

In the far off corners of his mind, he started to notice an increase of happiness. She was watching through his eyes, he realized, and now she knew what he knew.

**· · · · · · ·**

Jake watched in confusion at erratic behavior of the mutant crabs. One had made a feeble attempt to launch at him, he'd caught it and it had just lost interest. This was probably an awkward moment for whichever mad scientists had invented these creatures.

He was just trying to figure out what to do now — all doors were still closed, lots of sleeping people who might need saving — when a bright orb of energy surged through the air above him. It hit the windows, seemed delayed for a split second, then the plasticide burst. The scientists inside scattered, but none were hit. The shot had been aimed at the control panels, for as far as Jake could see.

He turned to where it had come from, but didn't see a source.

The mutant swarm started to move again, all cluttered towards the broken windows. Morbidly fascinated, Jake watched them climb atop each other with perfect balance until they formed a chain to the gap. The entire swarmed climb through the window and he was ignored. The scientists started screaming, tried to open the doors but could not get out.

Behind him, Jake heard an odd sucking sound. He turned to see one crab having attached itself to a host face, and a few others trying to do the same. Two more were coming his way.

A blurry wisp of air jumped in front of him and battered the two away, hissing loudly.

"~ I can't call them all back. Come with me! ~" something told him. He wasn't certain he had actually heard it.

The shimmering air seemed to reach out a hand, and Jake felt oddly confident his best choice was to let that hand lead him along. Into the vents they went.

**· · · · · · ·**

"Thank you very much ...ehm... I suppose it's not Eleanor?"

Kirindi shook her head, pleased to find his response less than "_Aaaaa, scary monster girl, let me irrationally scream and run away_!" It was so difficult to convince those to stay, and stay she needed him to.

"They would call me an Amy here, because of what my mother called her only real daughter. I'm fake. Mother was a fake too. So, I am Kirindi."

It was funny to see herself through his eyes. He didn't find her pleasant to look at, thought she was something of a fleshy insect. She supposed the skeletal tail and the six spikes on her back did it, along with her anti-corrosive armor made out of kainde amedha shell. He amusingly though it was part of her body.

"So, Kirindi, what are you ... doing here?"

She smiled at him, it was nice that he thought he shouldn't ask about what she was. It meant consideration, and such people she liked to have in her hivemind.

"I need to find my sister. She is also an Amy, but not Kirindi. She is here. We don't want to be here, so I came to get her out, she will like it better where me and father live."

He had unpleasant thoughts about what it meant that she had a sister, which involved exploding wombs. She soothed down those thoughts and said, "No, I was from an egg. Mother was from a tube. No explosions."

Jake was starting to fall into that confused state that really didn't help humans.

"Could you do something for me?" she asked quickly.

"I think so. What would it be, miss?" he said. The vent was rather cramped, he tried rearranging himself.

"Go into more vents and sabotage something. I asked my friend to send Shadhahvar there if he met her. I can do that from a distance, you know...but don't tell anyone, okay, that I can do that?"

Ah, there was that shock when a non telepathic creature learned she was reading their mind. She quickly suppressed the panic that was whelming up in him; he really shouldn't fear _her_, she knew she wouldn't do anything bad.

It slowly worked, where he had momentarily threatened to see an enemy in claws and tail, he now saw more of a child in her. Kirindi didn't know whether she was innocent, but he seemed to like that thought so she let him play with it.

"Is what I am supposed to do going to help me get out of here?"

"Off course. You and all those people back there and Shady too and perhaps Sarah too, I hope."

"Aren't those things —"

"My friend released seven digital enemies on Utara, the AI that controls this ship. They're battling now and they should close the pods when they can. The humans will be save, don't worry."

"Okay ... do you have a map for me somewhere, and ... weaponry perhaps? Yes, I need weapons."

She nodded eagerly and hoped he'd soon adapt to the hivemind. He seemed a little too slow right now. She pulled out a tiny gizmo from one of her gauntlets and handed it to him.

"The red side, push it with your fingernail. I fight with my body and plasma caster only. You cannot control the caster and can't become me, so nothing I can give, sorry."

"It's okay. I'm already glad I've got a shot at getting out of here," he said as he followed the instructions.

A three dimensional map manifested, displaying the entirety of Enigma II.

"Woah." He was awed both at the expanse of the ship and the technology in his hands. She quietly urged him to go, they were on a schedule.

"Push it again to make it vanish," she said. He did so, and pocketed the gadget.

"Say, Kirindi, if your sister is here, does that mean there are also others of your...kind?"

She nodded, but said no. "I hunt the other Kainde Amedha. We only have sharp blood in common with them, we are our own kin. I have not met Kainde Amedha that could be as us. Kainde Amedha that don't disturb the balance of nature."

Oh, he didn't quite know what xenomorph were, only had heard rumors.

At that moment her gauntlet beeped.

"Kirindi, I am here with a certain Mary Sue McKenzie. She insists on joining our rebellion and wants to be useful. According to my digital friends, you have acquired miss McKenzie's friend. Do you think they might be of use?" 921-Y said.

"Yes, I read his memories, he is a mercenary good enough. His friend can help him, if directed, I think." The compliment seemed to fall in good earth, and a flare of feeling his privacy was being invaded cooled down quickly under her mental hand. It helped him to know she didn't find anything embarrassing, would never tell his secrets. She didn't understand why it helped him, for her a hivemind was so much more pleasant than secrecy, but that was how humans were.

"If they can take care of the generator, this could buy us a lot of time. Utara is dealing better with my attacks than expected."

"Hey, I know you, you're the pilot of the ship that got us here. I haven't got a clue what I am doing, but I'm with you guys. Miss Kirindi just gave me a map of where I should go."

"Excellent. It will show what you need to destroy." There was a brief struggle while Shadhahvar tried to grab 921-Y's arm, thinking it was his phone, and shout to Jake about how he owed her an apology. Kirindi had considerably more trouble with influencing Shadhahvar, any thought given to her risked flying into some random direction. Kirindi shared this with Jake, who grinned in response.

"Alright then, I'll be heading there and destroy that generator," Jake said. "See you ... nevermind."

Jake struggled to turn around in the air shaft and started crawling away in the direction Kirindi pointed out, still mentally linked. She was pleased he accepted the bond.

She turned too and went her own way, all the while continuing to ease Jake and Shadhahvar into the hivemind. One of the first things she learned them was the existence of xenomorph.

**· · · · · · ·**

Sarah's sleeping head felt like it had a hamster in a wheel running inside. That hamster kept running while she woke and found herself on a couch, Jonah standing over her.

"You saw her, didn't you?" said he coldly. "Care to tell me what she looked like? I assume the human part was a disguise."

Sarah felt like pretending to have no idea of what he was talking about, but didn't quite know what she wasn't supposed to know ... had she been holding a tail?

"I've been through this as well, with another one. I know what you're wrapped up in."

"What are you jabbering about, Jonah? Can't this wait? I have a burning headache. I accidentally drank some garbage from that idiotic woman and it's bloody awful." To add to the effect, she rubbed her head.

"It's calleidion," he said. "I took a blood sample while you slept, the effects will wear off eventually. The trap your mind is in won't."

"What are you talking about?"

"I still have a link with Amy, I noticed a few things. Also, your friend's records were a little too perfect. I had a good guess where to suspect another chimera. How she ever got off Terra Mirror is a mystery, but it's not impossible." He seemed to be talking more to himself than her.

"Jonah, please be clearer! What's going on?"

"Isn't she telling you?"

Sarah paused for a moment, tried to find a balance in her mind ... someone was indeed telling her things. Lots and lots of things. Xenomorph, Internecivus Raptus, Jake and Shadhahvar were family now, Jonah was a traitor, watch out.

She sat up.

"Jonah, how did you come to work here?"

He sighed. "Have you ever heard those rumors about what took Earth from us?"

"Off course."

"Internecivus Raptus, as perfect as a non-sentient killing machine can be. We have two hives and three queens. We cannot tame them, but there is indication we can rewrite their instincts on a genetic level, so that they become tamable."

"But you —"

"Let me finish. The Enigma stations are in service of pursuing this and thus hunt down various creatures that could give a clue about how to achieve this goal. This led them to a recovery mission of certain eggs, curtsy of United Systems Military on Terra Mirror, where I happened to be. I was to be cleaned up, but bonded with a human-xenomorph chimera there —"

Kirindi responded to this by filling her with knowledge of this, fragmented memories even that seemed to come both from Jonah and her sister.

"Stop. Just, stop! Don't talk anymore, okay?"

"Sarah, please.."

"Don't say anymore!" Sarah felt tears run down her cheeks and she stood up, pacing to the other end of the room. Once there, she whispered, "Murderers."

She heard Jonah turn away. The door opened, and he paused to say, "I do agree with you, Sarah. We are murderers. Don't lump me with them though, they chose this job, I had no such luxury."

Before she could consider what to say, he was gone and she was left with her thoughts. Awareness of Kirindi became stronger, a soothing feeling.

Monsters did exist, and her old friend Jonah had become one of them by mind, as Kirindi had turned out to be one of them by body. She didn't like monsters that wore human bodies when that implied being humane, she decided.

Kirindi said she had befriended Schrodinger, but couldn't befriend Jonah. He had something in his head, and mind, that made him resist. No emotions, she told Sarah by letting her feel the gap he hovered above.

Monster.

With sudden vigor, she spun around and ran after Jonah, grabbing the nearest solid object. The door opened for her, she knew what to do.

He was about to ask her whether she needed anything or wanted to continue the conversation — Kirindi got that much from his mind — and Sarah rammed the vase on his head.

He slumped down, vase and fake flowers splintered around him. Sarah knelt down to check his pulse, felt a little relieved when he was still alive.

With some effort, she dragged him back into the room and left him on the floor.

Confusion and fear was still there, but Kirindi offered her a safe feeling too. Sarah felt powerful, and of her own she produced an almost childlike sense of amusement. There were xenomorph down below, bred from humans. They might be released.

She felt like meeting Kirindi's sister. There was a plan, it would be safe.

Sarah felt a little proud of being the only member in their makeshift hivemind whom Kirindi didn't need to steer. Just a bit of encouragement, that was all she needed. When she surrendered to the hivemind, it felt like she would never again be alone, never again need to fear social rejection, never again need to care for anything outside of them.

**· · · · · · ·**


	6. Hive Puppets

**· · · · · · ·**

Enigma II had plenty of inconspicuous hiding places. This floor was for pipes of the cooling system, not likely to be use for anything disruptive. What routine scanning might occur here would not be able to detect the bomb he was planting here. An architect would have to physically crawl down here to notice something was wrong, and they'd not likely have a reason to do so.

They would believe the mission had been about the chimera and the human prisoners. In part, it was. They were just using the opportunity to plant another bomb on another Enigma station.

It was all about strategy. At the right time, when their resistance was strong enough and they would issue their threat, it would be accompanied by some very nice explosions of crucial weapon projects.

Granted, their current strategy was a little off. Utara was smarter and they had a lot less time. Then again, Kirindi could win a compliant hive so easily, they could compensate. Kirindi's diligence in "befriending" people had a use after all.

He wasn't too sure though about her letting those scientists be impregnated with aliens. A little physical chaos might help, but it could also get in the way. Perhaps she had let it happen because she wasn't certain she could keep Schrodinger under control. Xenomorph might just get in the way of cyborg too, acidic as they were.

Kirindi had recruited Schrodinger in her usual way and so had relative control over the hardware of the station. This was presumably the reason they hadn't seen any cyborg yet. This man however had no innate reason to join up with Kirindi, having a well paid job that he enjoyed.

Problem was, without cyborg available Utara decided to release drones from previous experiments into the halls as a cleansing operation. He could only speculate for the reason such drastic measures were taken. No time for evidence gathering either.

Utara had just become aware of his existence.

He could not afford to be caught here, not so close to his little gift.

He quickly moved on, having decided to head towards the nuclear cells. If caught there, he could pretend his reason for having gone this far down was to investigate that experiment.

Precision was everything in this situation. He moved up the levels as quickly as possible to fake an alternate route, his freedom range lessening with the second.

Thirtheen seconds and it would have failed. Thirteen seconds and he would've been seen climbing out of the vents when Utara's scanners went back online. They hadn't. They only saw him running from the distant cell cluster that he hadn't come from.

**· · · · · · ·**

The vents lost their convenient width before the G laboratory, so Kirindi slipped out and went through the normal halls. It momentarily struck her as strange that Schrödinger had been able to disable _all_ cyborg, but her sister quickly reclaimed attention.

She stopped before the last door separating her and her sister. Echo showed it was too thick to tear down, her plasma caster too small to work with quick enough. Not without risking that a stray bolt reach her sister, whose prison was opposite of the door.

A subtle change in the magnetic fields of the station and a cheery Shadhahvar told Kirindi the generator was successfully offline_._ It puzzled her a little, she had hardly noticed anything of their efforts, but it wasn't too surprising in face of her waking sister.

She wanted to bounce, claw at the barrier between them. She didn't, she was kainde amedha and did not waste her energy like that. 921-Y would open the door soon enough, wouldn't he?

"Please, hurry ... "she whispered once.

She tried sending him a message, but there was no answer. Perhaps Utara had already reclaimed the radio channels.

Maybe ...

When the door suddenly without warning, she fell forward. Echo now painted a clear image of the prison in her mind. It was a round hall with a towering column from floor to ceiling. A large white form, her sister was in it, clawing weakly against the smooth cell. Kirindi immediately leaped up and climbed to as close as she could get to the glass. It all went quick, she warned her sister to move back.

With the power gone from this level, it only took one plasma bolt to destroy the rooting of the cylinder. No back up restarted it, no defense system was activated.

She waited for the flood of liquid to lose strength, then unsheathed her wrist blades to start tearing away the remaining glass.

Her sister crashed through it before she was done, tearing along the cables that fed her and had held her up. There was a cry, a slam and cracking as she hit the floor, then the sizzle of acid blood.

Kirindi felt the pain of impact and couldn't move for a few moments. Only knowing her link with Karga'te, she had not expected the link to one of her own to be this petrifying and intense. No long subject to the fields inside her prison, nor the chemicals, her sister's mind rampaged into clarity. Senses and feelings flooded Kirindi's mind, she had to force herself to climb down and collect herself.

Her sister had been locked up so long she had trouble orienting herself as well. Up, down, smell, sound, goo, shard, movement, the web of existence ... stagger, crawl, closer, sister?

The massive skull turned to Kirindi and a skeletal head slowly appeared from below the dome. She smiled, but her sister had no lips to smile back. Still hunched down, Kirindi moved closed and laid her hands aside of her sister's face. Their foreheads touched, and in their minds both smiled at each other.

A storm broke free in this silence. With inhuman speed they exchange their life's worth of memories and feelings. They were the same, same in pale skin, same in mother, same in need for a family.

"Like me," Kirindi whispered.

Her sister noticed the humans before she did and tensed up at once, a lust to kill brewing in her instincts. Through the haze of that rage, Kirindi only barely recognized Jake and Shadhahvar, but when she did she urged her knowledge onto her sister.

_Not a threat. Friends. Don't you feel? They're with us, they'll help us._

The two wearily waited at the entrance. Jake at the very least had a mind sharp enough to realize he had been in danger from the sister. Unlike with her sister, who eased down and trusted Kirindi unconditionally, Jake continued doubting even when the threat was gone.

Her sister turned her head towards them, and at that moment Shadhahvar's flashlight fell on her face. The woman screamed, dropped the light and turned to run. Jake instinctively caught her, clamping a hand before her mouth. Shadhahvar tried to bite, but he didn't let go.

"Shady, it's alright, it's alright. It's just Kirindi's sister, don't you hear?"

"Hmmhmhmm." Kirindi couldn't tell whether that was a yes or no; Shadhahvar seemed to know what was going on, yet was scared anyway.

"Shadey, I'm going to let go now, don't scream again. They're friends. Remember what I told you about life or death situations involving mad scientists and hostile monsters?" Jake removed his hand.

"They don't exist?" she said weakly, her eyes still in the direction of the chimeras.

"Mins that. Forget about that."

"We're going to die horribly?" Her voice became squeaky.

"No. We team up with the other people trying to escape. Kirindi is our ally, right? So is her sister. Understood?"

"But that thing looks like those monsters!"

"Shut up. White monsters be allies."

Her sister quickly became annoyed with the fruitless talk, she wanted out of hell now.

Her body was stiff and cracked as she stretched it. The goo that had held her earlier made the floor slippery, so Kirindi tried to support her, but with her little weight she could do nothing to help her stand up. It took a lot of tries to get all four legs under her sister.

The door was an even greater challenge. While she technically could fit through with her skull, she wasn't yet flexible enough to worm the rest of her body out when she low to the ground. After a lot of trashing around, she somehow still managed, mostly thanks to getting injured and her acidic blood eating away at the doorframe.

Once she was out, the next issue was finding a road she could fit through. 921-Y still was silent, so she had to figure it out on her own. She wasn't used to this, since father always had lead the way.

Well, in a way, this road would end back with father, so she was not lost.

**· · · · · · ·**

The general in charge of Enigma II's military arm was only in his middle ages, yet had more ripples than he should have. With Sullivan gone, he was the sole authority, a task he received by folding his hands and leaning his forehead against the tips, eyes closed.

Jonah patiently waited until he finished thinking. He was somewhat grateful for his own lack of emotions, he might not have been able to conceal that he'd left the scientists to die.

"What do we know?" the general said slowly, after several minutes had passed.

"That we are being invaded by an unknown number of highly advanced enemies capable of creating and unleashing artificially intelligent viruses. That is all we _know_. What I _suspect_ is based on a glimmer and no more."

"And what do you suspect?"

"That there is a relative of our white chimera."

The general stared ahead, then sighed. "So, that'll be the only freak show we'll be missing by the end of the day?"

"Possibly. If ... lucky, one may survive our current cleaning crew. But we cannot rule out though that they may have come for something else. Has Schrödinger set up cyborg with our other treasures?"

"Schrodinger is alive, but not responding. Can you do anything about that?"

"Perhaps not with my sixth sense disabled, but I will try."

"I'd appreciate it if you tried just with words. There's already enough creepy mindfucking going on in this place."

"I quite agree," Jonah said.

**· · · · · ·  
**

When they met 921-Y Kirindi was greatly relieved, a feeling prominent enough to stop her sister from charging at the moving blank spot without mental resonance. With some effort, Kirindi explained her that even though the android could not be part of their hivemind, he was not a machine that served the enemy.

He had been in the middle of rewiring a closed door, and didn't respond much when they joined him. He gave a brief status report without even looking up.

So, they waited.

Her sister did not stop communicating and had a much bigger brain to do so. The endless stream of memories and sensations threatened to overwhelm Kirindi and she had to sit down. It came to the point where even Jake, light as his awareness of the hivemind was, noticed something was wrong.

She felt his hand on her shoulder, looked up into worried eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"She cannot stop speaking to me," Kirindi whispered. He didn't fully understand why this would tire her. She did not show him, he would be unable to handle the chaos. When he noticed that was all the answer he would get, her sat down against the nearest wall.

After a while, he finally said it. "What are you doing to us? I know I'm somehow ... linked to you? Shady is here too, isn't she?"

"You are all in my hive."

He thought he should be angry, offended, even outraged. It was so contradictory, even now he still felt a wave of calmness coming from her. She smoothed away those feelings quite deliberately, they would make him function poorly.

"You don't want it?"

"You could have asked me. Hell, I have the right for my full emotions _and _my free will! You can't just do this to other people just like that!" The anger really wasn't cooperating.

"I did ask you. You came in yourself."

"I meant consciously."

She tilted her head. For her tapping into people's mind was something that occurred naturally, that humans had issues with it had never occurred to her. Then again, she had never met humans before boarding the Philidon.

"Why?"

"That's the way rights work, okay?" Kirindi let him become a little frustrated, it seemed to put that other side of his mind at ease.

"I'm keeping your fear away a little still. I do not do anything to the reason or source behind your anger."

Another silence, for Jake at least.

"Is there someone else influencing me too?"

"You think that old Mother is doing something? She is rather strange, indeed ..."

"How closely did you follow me when me and Shadey disabled the generator?"

"I did not watch. My sister ..." She made a gesture at that great white creature.

"Maybe you should listen to that ... uhm, Mother. When we were down there, one of those ... things, those drones appeared. It didn't attack, it just very conveniently drooled acid on a place we couldn't get through and then left."

Kirindi blinked a single time.

"We could probably use the help," Jake added.

She didn't reply, kept her thoughts to herself and her sister, who feared all the other queens but had nothing useful to say on the one.

921-Y stood up and Shadhahvar at once asked, "How's it going? Can we leave yet?"

"Not so very well. I need an diryxinator, Jake would you-"

"Ooh, I know what that is, I can get it!" said Shadhahvar.

"Are you willing to stick your hand inside a bleeding dead cyborg?"

"Ehm..." Shadhahvar backed off, then turned for Jake. "Jake, he needs a diryxthingy!"

"What type?"

"Any one you can get your hands on," 921-Y said.

Jake stood up and started down the hall, intending to pull apart one of the cyborg they knew to be stored in a nearby hall. Kirindi gave Schrödinger a mental prod, asking him to please make this easy for them. 921-Y's viruses would make sure Utara would not get too much in the way of sending any protocols.

A still bored Shadhahvar turned her attention to the Auton again. "So, what are we going to do if we can't get this door open?"

921-Y sighed, just for show. "Hope Kirindi's sister can wreck a garbage hatch before Utara turns on the freezers on this level."

**· · · · · · ·**

Jumping over a pile of frosted fellow Servant, the drone continued towards the strange noise. It came from a huge mass slamming against metal, as far as his cold senses could tell.

The sound came from two strange rulers — not mothers, though one should be — whom he was to find in accordance to the call of his Mother. She was rather interested in them and called them adoptive Children, liked them far better than the new queens with their flawless, stagnated copies of their wills.

At least, he thought she liked them. It was rather hard to tell, since she slept an unnatural sleep curtsy of her captors. After she had laid her eggs, they had forced her back into that sleep, with her last command being to attend to these strange not-mother-yet-rulers.

He was close now. The crashing of the strangers had ceased, but he felt their presence still. Strange Children of an unknown Mother, one that was no ruler but just a mother. Searching their memories brought him no where, they had noticed him and blocked his curiosity. He did find out however they were allot older than him, though not even a fraction of the age of the Elder Mother.

Closer still. Just a few meters underneath him. Too late he noticed where exactly the humps in the floor he stood on came from, his senses too dull yet from the frost earlier. The huge head of the queen chimera burst through the metal hatch. It send him flying against the ceiling and bounce off to land on the corona of the much larger creature.

She was very offended by this, understandably. Violently she shook her head and the drone decided to latch on. Getting ripped apart was not in accordance with his Mother's command to help this creature.

So that arm reaching up while she tilted her crest to pluck him off was not productive. Especially not the getting thrown against the wall part.

He felt a few cracks inside, but quickly jumped to his legs again.

She still wrestled to work herself through the hatch. Soon her tail would be free, he might have to run.

Yep, tail free and coming right at him. He dodged.

She nearly fell forward as she pushed herself out of the hole, clumsy yet still fast enough to plant a claw on his tail. He turned and bit, though he wasn't strong enough to break her skeleton. Still, the thin layer of skin atop of it bled and caused her enough pain to release him.

He shot away and turned around at the end of the hall, finding himself not pursued.

The other stranger had climbed up and stood before her sister.

Slowly, he became aware of what went on in between them. The first sense of their hivemind was startling and crowded, not to mention how wrong it felt to join a hivemind not of his own Mother. Still, his Mother had told him to approach them, so who was he to deny the invitation.

They were physically so much like host bodies, he couldn't understand what his Mother wanted with them. Was the small one dominant, the leader? That made no sense. Had he misunderstood his own Mother's command?

No, he had not, his far away Mother told him.

With caution, he walked back to them. The smaller ex-stranger approached him, but then suddenly turned back at a certain noise. More hive members started to crawl through. While he did not understand their noises, he got the gist of their language through the sisters.

One of the humans complained about the state of their tunnel they had just come out of, apparently something relating to the smell. He was particularly confused when she said, "Just look at how I smell now!"

The other fleshy one was irritated and really hated the bad grammar, whatever that may be.

The third wasn't a real creature, though it pretended to be. The sisters thought of him as alive, but he could detect nothing to support that.

All three pseudo hive members noticed him. The two real ones did some screaming and fear, giving the small sister a hard time calming them down and irritating the big one. More noises between those four, and the distrustful mental prodding of the big sister.

Then the small one turned back to him.

The safe way out she requested. Wasn't sure whether he would comply, didn't trust him either.

They could call like mothers, but had that independence of host bodies, and they were sterile without ever becoming queens. Perhaps that was why Mother was so interested in them, their ability to mediate between two species without posing a true risk to her.

He doubted it a second later, then realized both doubt and understanding weren't quite part of his instinct. Odd.

Perhaps the small sister was doing this. It didn't sit well with him, she was guard, acting servant, getting the results of a mother. Whether that was better or worse than the big sister with her aggression he didn't decide on yet.

Well, Mother said help them. So he showed her what he knew of the way out. Back up, to where he was born, to start.

It was time to move. Careful not to betray their position any further than he had done already, he sensed for the presences of the hostile Servants. They were shrieking loudly on all tone heights possible, but their energetic fields were low and unaware of the presences of the others, either Fellow or Enemy. They were completely blind for this little makeshift hive.

His other brothers were also aware of the plot. It was their duty to lead away the hostile servants and create a free path. His Mother's captors had released the hostile ones to clean up, driving them forward with the cold from the walls. They were dying one by one, sometimes at the same time, as their duty was. He himself would have to die too, should it become needed, but so far he was to stay alive.

Somehow, he liked that idea. He'd been a chestburster not too long ago, it would be as unfulfilling as it was to his brothers, dying now without ever meeting Mother.

A tremble in the walls made him lose that little pleasantry. The force that controlled the cold was activating, had the invisible mind in the walls noticed them?

Probably, the sisters said.

He was about to break into a run when they objected. The small one did not want to leave behind the other three things, and her sisters automatically agreed with her.

But they had to run!

They would, but only as quick as the humans could keep up.

Irritated, he turned to the nearest human,stood on his hind legs and grabbed it. More annoying noise ensued when he pushed it onto the queen sister's back. She was insulted, but off course agreed when her sister explained the rationale behind it.

The other human seemed to catch the drift, and climbed on as well. The third, the fake life, declined. It could apparently run quick enough to keep up with the carrying sister.

Weird things, they were so different from one another. Well, at least they went quicker now.

They ran.

His Mother spoke to him again, much to his delight, but at once he had to push away the enthusiasm. He was told a new Command, which he was to keep well hidden from the two sisters. It was all she could tell him in this state, that and a warning of the enemy's approach.

**· · · · · · ·**


	7. Programs Will

******· · · · · · ·**

Jonah entered Schrödinger's cabin, a dimly lit space that smelled of chemicals. The man had more of an obsession with keeping his precious machines clean, cleaner than himself.

"_I'll just get dirty again anyway, but it's not going to make me malfunction, unlike my machines,"_ he'd always say._  
_

Schrödinger was anxiously typing away on an old fashioned keyboard,muttering non stop. Jonah carefully tapped him on the shoulder, at which the man turned around in his rotating chair, smiling blissfully with one hand still on the keyboard.

"I can't believe you gave up on this so willingly," he murmured.

"I prefer to _own_ my own mind," Jonah said, not caring for the memory of how he had once felt about his current life.

Almost as if he knew his thoughts, Schrödinger said, "This hollow life is worthless in exchange for the hivemind. Or maybe _my_ chimera is better than _yours_."

Jonah shrugged. "That's not your chimera and you used to love working here."

"Tss, just because I didn't think about how dead everything here is. If you would have felt it, Jonah, you would have wanted to stay forever."

He guessed the chimeras had met. The effect on this man seemed far deeper than what he had experienced. Oh, the link between him and that thing had been profound, but it hadn't turned him into a waxing idiot.

"It's just a trick," Jonah said.

"So? _Everything_ is a trick. This hive mind is just a much better trick, and the viruses in Utara are a trick too. Such state of the art! Auton work, I know. She shares those things with me if I ask nicely."

Ah, there was a seed. No matter what delirium the chimeras brought someone in, they could not erase the personality that already was there.

"Did she tell you what the Auton can gain by helping her?"

Just a fraction of a pause betrayed that no, not yet.

"They are her allies and they are interested in her sister."

Ah, sister? He would have been curious if his own personality was half as in place as this man's, but instead he focused on the task at hand.

"I find it highly unlikely that they would help her because they are nice. You know what Auton are like, mister Schrödinger. Unlike your friends here, they aren't very nice machines. Off course they would send a cute little chimera, they know you are here and would otherwise never let them mess with their machines. Now, you're messing things up for them."

"What do you mean? She's blinding me for something?"

Jonah nodded gravely. "Will you listen for a moment?"

The simple truth was, nobody ever had to force him to break his bond with the chimera. They had simply made him listen to reason, and all the ugly truth that accompanied it. They had given him the choice of being a test subject willingly, or unwillingly. They had explained him the nature of telepathy and chimeras. He had listened. Nobody on Enigma was his friend, but he lived because he listened.

Schrödinger hadn't been under their touch for all that long, they'd never even really interacted. Jonah had an easy time talking to Schrödinger, but instead of the cold harshness he'd been addressed with, he played the role of concerned friend here to guide Schrödinger back to purpose. Kinda like a comic he'd once read, long ago when he could still enjoy things.

He was heard, too.

It took nineteen minutes before Schrödinger's other hand returned to the keyboard. This time, the typing was frantic and angered. Jonah patted him on the shoulder, and let him hunt viruses in peace. This time, he didn't have to pry the door open. Utara's control of the immediate area was the first Schrödinger restored to it.

Around now, Nuitar should make work of herding around the 'tame' drones towards the chimeras, which would also deal with the wild enemy hive. There were scientists down there, but he was incapable of caring for their lives. Existence was so easy this way.

******· · · · · · ·**

The cold drove them nearer, she could feel it.

When the flood of black monsters hit them, they had the luck to at least be in a hall. The main lightning was off, and only a few blue emergency lights glowed. Kirindi could see perfectly well on magnetism, but she worried her human allies would have problems getting where they ought to be. Telepathic aid or not, they were afraid, and fearing humans were not entirely functional. She had to fight, she did not have the time to give them calmness when she herself could feel no such thing.

With a soft click, he wrist blades unsheathed and telepathically probed the shrieking hive hurling their way. They were driven by rage, boiling down all sense of purpose to simple rage. Their queen wasn't awake to guide them, and they were not as natural as they ought to be. She couldn't expect them to work together, which was one advantage.

The first drone she aimed at dodged, leaving the shot to be taken by one behind it. Not cleanly, the bolt only took an arm off.

The one that had dodged responded in kind by taking off her plasma caster and a chunk of her skin. She curled up and rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding the piercing tail and the jaws of a third attacker. As she skittered across the ground, she took off the next leg with her wrist blades and climbed through the clawing to drove the blades into its neck, severing vital relay systems. Without time to check her success, she jumped to her hind legs and screamed. Echo location revealed her plasma caster in a puddle of acid, and her friends under siege. Most of the flock had focused on her sister.

Sheer size and inherent strength gave her sister an advantage, but only so much in this narrow space. From one side below her crest, Jake was operating a cyborg arm with its gun, somehow, and had shot two, killed none. He was suffering acid burns already, and 921-Y was only doing slightly better.

Kirindi was treated to two new attackers before she could join them, let alone plan anything. Putting all focus on her legs, she leaped up, clawing at the wall to climb higher. They pursued her, but due to weight had more trouble keeping up with her. From here, she noticed their guide with three drones in pursuit. They tried, and failed, at concerning him.

Pushing off the wall, she made two risky leaps to a pipe and a ledge to get closer to him. They were the only ones capable of even leaving her sister's shelter, they had a better shot cooperating.

Their guide zig-zagged further away from her sister; what was he doing? He didn't respond to her call for cooperating, save with an almost amused sense of stubbornness.

One of the drones that had followed her had reached the top of the hall and was scaling the pipes there until it was almost above her. There it dropped. Down below two others drones waited. There was no safe way to do it, so she pushed up and tackled the falling drone in mid air, gaining some leverage on how they collided. Falling was an art she'd mastered in the rain forest well enough; with a quick twist she was on its upper side. It fell right onto the other two, and she leaped back up the wall.

Another leaped at her from behind, she curled her back outward and extended her spikes. When the impact of the claws on her back tore open her shoulder, and the sheer weight behind the arm that got pierced by her spikes broken then off. Had she needed air, it would have been knocked out of her. Pulling herself free, she lost the two spikes in her enemy's arm. The pain she'd caused it gave her a second to turn around, twist her tail around it other arm to pull it away and ram her blades into its chest. This one died at once.

For a few moments, nothing attacked her, as most were occupied with her sister in the middle of the hall. Here she noticed it. Too few bodies, there had been much, much more drones. Instead, there were holes in the floor and a drone who apparently had fallen and snapped it's neck rather clumsily...

Frantically she extended her senses and found the drone that was their ally, it was easier to see now the cold wasn't as severe anymore and there were less opponents.

He just finished pushing on down the floor again, killing the other and leaving it conveniently on a circular line of other dead drones and dismembered body parts, the latter being curtsy of the queen chimera.

Telepathically, Kirindi informed her sister of the plan, who agreed at once.

The flood of drones continued still, apparently new ones were being driven in each time they had finished disposing of a group of wild xenomorph...but even Enigma would run out on their little soldiers.

She noticed the look of shock on 921-Y's face as he saw Kirindis sister back off, into one of the smaller sideways where she couldn't protect herself well, shaking off the two humans on her back in the process. The android cast both the sister a somewhat desperate glance, but Kirindi only returned him a smile, before leaping out of the path of another drone.

Luckily, the android now saw the pattern of acid burning through the floor, and got the message. Quickly he pulled Jake and Shadhahvar against the wall, disregarding their protests and shooting at drones meanwhile.

It didn't take the queen chimera long. As she shot out of the sidehall with a few attackers already on her back, she braced herself and screamed loudly, then she leaped up and aimed to land in the middle of the hall.

The impact of the large chimera's body with the floor, even though she had near completely withdrawn her legs, was rather anti-climatic, merely a small metallic tud sounded up. She didn't hesitate though, and propelled herself into the air once more, to land with a little harder tud.

That was enough to persuade the iron balustrades in the floor to quit their job, the acid and a couple of thousand pounds bounding on them was a little too much. The entire floor went down in a neat, giant circle. The floor underneath had endured some acidity as well and was now presented with another floor and the same chimera, and it started collapsing as well.

The good part was that most of the hostile drones were born from humans, and hence were not the best climbers. Most of them fell down as well despite trying to latch onto the hall walls, right along with the queen chimera.

921-Y dealt with the drones that had escaped into corridors, while Jake fired at the drones that were lifting along with the queen chimera. The space below had consisted out of halls too, too high for an average drone to jump; but Kirindis sister barely made it, despite unwanted hitchhikers.

As good as she could, the colossal chimera hauled herself into one of the few sidehalls that she fit in. There, she collapsed. Kirindi was at her side at once, checking over her sister's injuries with worry over her face.

But there was nothing she could do against the deep lashes. Her sister was weak from being locked up for years, and her exoskeleton not as hard as that of a fullblood drone. The large body started to shudder, and it took a few moments before Kirindi realized the lunges were starting to kick in. Wheezing and coughing, the chimera gasped for air. Being mostly I. Raptus, neither of the sisters needed breath constantly, but especially when exhausted, the function came in handy.

The larger sister uttered a deep moan, pain shooting through her as she moved her wounded limbs and her chest expanded for the first time in years. One might mistake her for being in a fit of rage, but Kirindi knew better, she could feel her sister's pain. Her fingernails scraped the floor as she crouched down. She was helpless, useless to her sister right now.

"Is she allright?" She hadn't even heard her companions approach. The androids had led the humans a few blocks around, now they had reached the spot of the chimeras.

Softly, Kirindi shook her head. "She hurts."

"She'll be okay, right?" asked Shadhahvar, hesitantly. "How are we gonna get out without her?"

Jake gave her a hard poke in the ribs. "Hey!" But she said no more, and a tired silence fell.

The android no longer looked human, his body covered with splashes of acid, circles of smoke still rising up. In his attempts to protect the humans, as he was programmed to do, he had neglected the secondary self preservation program. Drips of white liquid were behind him, mingled with splatters of red from both humans.

Jake, still clutching the bloody cyborg arm, realized they should start moving again, but at the same time hesitated. Perhaps it was best to give the large chimera a few minutes to recover.

In the dim blue light of the spare lamps and the occasional electrical sizzle in the hall beyond, the whole scene worked hopeless. Trapped inside this station, the shadows around reminiscent of the void beyond the walls.

921-Y tried to log into cyberspace, but failed miserably. His virusses probably were running low on defenses now. The mission had lasted much, much longer than originally planned. But, the main objective had been acquired. The bomb was planted. He kept telling himself that was all that mattered now.

But he was programmed to care for life, and many were still in danger. Kirindi, all the intended human hosts.

"We need do move." he said, surprised at the hoarse rasp that was his voice now.

Jake cleared his throat. "You're right, nine-two. Shadhahvar, stay close to me. Kirindi..."

With sad, black eyes, the creature looked up. Her lips moved with the words "We come", but no sound came out. The android was already making his way down the hall. Jake now looked at Shadhahvar, who'd been nothing but an annoyance for the whole time, but now felt sorry for her. Terror was written all over the young woman's face. "They'll come...don't worry, the android knows a way out, he has a map, remember?" Taking her by the arm, he began leading her away. Jake didn't want to mention the android had lost his modem and thereby the map, and that the map Kirindi had given him earlier had melted away.

Kirindi finally stood up, and softly brushed her forehead against her sister's wide corona. "We go now" she said.

The queen chimera grunted, Kirindi heard her telepathic affirmation. Unsteady, she large creature pushed herself on her feet, as far as the tunnel allowed to to stand straight. Going on two legs was still no option. Not that she had the energy for it anyway, but the hall was so small she could not properly position her legs underneath her. Her tred was labored as she started moving forth and the iced walls and floor made it no easier.

A scream sounded up from before, and for a single second Kirindi feared more attackers, but the only drone mind she was was no hostile. As she and her sister rounded the corner, they found Jake trying to calm Shadhahvar down, who had sunken into a frantic, babbling state.

"That's our friend, Shadey." He repeated the words to her, as the drone remained on a distance, blood dripping from many wounds. The android looked at the creature, it's yellow blood being added to their white and red.

Kirindi wondered what was going on in the android's mind right now. She'd known the Auton long enough to realize they were quite sentient, they too wondered at things. As did she herself on this strange ally, though she asked no time for question. Survive first.

She slipped past the android, and asked the drone for a way out.

It took a while before he responded, but then he showed her a sound map, constructed by his own echo and the long dome of his head, added with what his telepathic sense showed him.

"He says...ahead...several tunnels...ahead. Elevator, I think." said Kirindi, turning back to the android. 921-Y nodded slowly. He tried to check his own data, but found his energy reserves running dangerously low, much due to the fact his main 'stomach', had been ripped out.

For twenty-five minutes they trailed the empty halls, ever haunted by the shrieks in the far distance closing in. There indeed was a single wide space moving upward, and it indeed was an elevator.

The space before them was perfectly clean and smooth, and significantly warmer. Apparently, no drones had been driven through this room. As 921-Y processed this, he realized that some of his virus friends still had to be active, for as long as Utara did not had a system override code that was needed to drive the drones.

He just hoped the frosters still were off-line for the most part. The drones behind them, finding their way up the levels, they were just following their echo, right? They didn't need to be driven, the frosters could be offline. He wished he knew.

Kirindi slipped past him, obviously still believing the viruses would work...he had said so, after all, and she believed those she trusted on their word.

"Don't!"

She halted, a few steps into small room.

At that moment, a ray of ice shot free from the wall, right onto her. She screamed, trying to skitter back to the group, but a second ray joined in. Inhaling the frigid air scorched her lunges, but she only kept screaming. A normal human would have died already, and her skin started to show cracks, but a normal human she wasn't.

921-Y pushed Jake back and lunged forward himself, grabbing Kirindi's outstretched hand, trying to pull her back. She seemed heavy, suddenly, heavier than she should be. Or maybe it was just that he was lacking a few vital motion chambers. His silicon skin was started to show the same cracking patterns as that of Kirindi.

A sudden jerk pulled them both back into the hall. 921-Y immediately let go of Kirindi, but his hands took a while to cooperate. The child chimera's screaming reduced to a whimper as she slumped to the ground. 921-Y found himself falling backward, having lost his balance. In the corner of his eyes, he saw the drone's tail retract; he had pulled them to safety.

Then Jake's face appeared in view. He cast a quick look over the android and over the child chimera, and sighed. The man's face had been strong all the while, but now even in his eyes despair came to view.

"I guess none of us will be able to pass that hall." he said as half question, half statement. Even the queen chimera wouldn't last long enough, not in her condition.

"We can't go on?" Shadhahvar's squeaked.

"We can't go on."

"But...why isn't that blaster thing in this hall, why only in that room?"

No one did speak, no one answered. They didn't know. "Why?" Shadhahvar's voice whined.

Behind them, the queen chimera moved. A pale and crimson arm stretched past the humans, softly nudging her little sister. Kirindi didn't move at first, and when she did, her top skin layer sounded eerily crispy.

Uttering a few kittenlike sounds, painfully, she stood up with her sister's help. Slivers of frosted skin fell off her back and shoulders, revealing the equally white bony skin layer underneath.

She immediately looked at the android on the ground, who seemed to be shivering. Almost as if he was a human, but the reaction was in fact caused by a malfunction in his silicon relais, causing tiny spurts of energy to go through his muscles.

"So what now?" Jake asked, kneeling down to try and help the android sit up. The question was directed at Kirindi though.

She parted her lips, bit cringed back to the ground in pain again as a piece of her neck skin tore loose. There, she curled to a ball like a small child, biting back the pain as well as she could.

"Don't know..." she whispered.

******· · · · · · ·**


	8. Left and left behind

**Chapter 8 : That which is left and left behind**

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* * *

_

With a sigh, Jake carefully positioned the android against the wall. 921-Y didn't seem to be able to speak at the moment, and Jake hoped that the reason for that was merely that he needed to reroute his data-streams, or something. Right now, things were as hopeless as they could be. Sure, they had reached an elevator, but had no way to either actually _reach_ said elevator, nor how to open it. If Utara was indeed functional again, the elevator probably wouldn't work for them anyway.

"Huh?" Kirinidi looked up, suddenly but slowly and at the same moment, Shadhahvar darted forward. Both her arms clutched the cyborgs arm, she raced into the room, towards the elevator. "Oh shit. Jake was about to lunge after her, when something grabbed his shoulder and pushed him back hard, nearly causing him to hit the android.

The black drone barged after Shadhahvar, after he did not retrieve her.

The frosters went on right away, but were aimed at the drone rather than the human. Jake then realized it, the station was running low on frost liquid. Right now, it's primary target was to disable the drone.

He saw Shadhahvar fumble with the metallic arm and the weapon on it, half letting it slip as she tried not to touch the skin remnants on it. "I'll be right back." Jake said and stood up. But before he could enter the hall, the queen chimera's claws reached for his shoulder, making him topple over. Almost, he was annoyed at being handled like a rag doll, but shoved the useless thought aside as soon as he saw the froster right before the door turn on. He would be been iced if he had gone through.

As the white mist cleared, he saw why the System did not waste energy on disabling Shadhahvar. The young woman wasn't able to achieve anything, she couldn't even get the weapon to work. There was no chance she'd figure out how to open the elevator.

The mist cleared away, and the drone was nowhere to be seen.

Aside of Shadhahvar's cursing at failing to get the weapon to work, which she apparently was aiming at the elevator door, and the hard breathing of the queen chimera, it was dead still again.

Then Jake laughed. The drone was clever.

For whatever reason, only the blasters in this room worked, and he had used the situation well. The System thought he had been trying to divert attention from Shadhahvar, and he had been driven into another hallway, apparently unscratched. Said hallway was a lot closer to the elevator than their current position...and on the door's control over there, a blotch of acid was eating it's way through. That door, it wouldn't close again.

Confident again, Jake stood up. "Come, Kirindi, tell your sister to move backward, we're going another road. I'll try to carry 921-Y. Come now!"

Kirindi looked up, and quickly caught onto his information. "Ah." she simply said, and let her sister help her stand up again.

_

* * *

_

"I do not believe my superiors will be happy with this." said Isabel.

Jonah barely shrugged. "I on my turn do not believe _my_ superiors would be happy with having either of these chimeras dead. Not only because of what they are, but also for why the little one is, in fact, here, with an android."

"Government and science will never truly go hand in hand, I understand. But you do understand that by shutting down all the hall ice weaponry, you made it easy for them to escape?"

He shook his head. "The rooms have extra liquid rerouted to them at the moment." Then, he climbed up from the hatch in the floor, and absently started rubbing his sore muscles. Crawling under fourteen flours to cut wires had not entirely been what he remembered from his contract.

Isabel Landener decided that at this point, there was nothing she could manipulate the man into doing anymore. It was an interesting piece of work to make him believe he had made the choice of messing with this state of the art hardware. With some luck, he'd take the blame and she'd have clean hands.

"Shall we return to the holo chamber and see whether we can contact the surviving scientists now?"

"No."

"Why not, if I may ask?"

"Sorry, you may not."

"Why, may I not?"

"With all due respect, doctor, I am pissed off."

She raised an eyebrow at the young man. "Ah, I remember, you wish to go find your friend, Sarah Donovinh."

He looked at her for a moment, then casually said :"Quite obviously. Most drones have moved to the lower levels, and are set on chasing the chimera. But, as things are now, neither can the chimera leave, nor can the drones get to their level or our level. Why would I not look for my friend?"

She smiled charmingly. "You don't belong here." With that, she walked past him, held up her hand as she did so, and he gave her the special card he'd been using to get access to the hardware.

"Thank you." she said, before meeting with her guards, and finding her way to the holo chamber, or where ever she intended to go. He wasn't sure of her words.

Actually, he should check on Nuitar's actions, but quite honestly, he didn't care to think about anything that might go wrong.

_

* * *

_

The elevator ascended with a steady pace. The soft humming of the smooth ascend was strangely comforting. Just ten minutes ago, they'd been wandering through frozen halls, chased by black monsters with acid blood.

Jake looked aside of him. A monster similar to them was there, leaning against the wall as if dead. On the other side were two chimera, part his species, part of those monsters as well.

Fortunately, this was a cargo elevator, big enough to shuffle in the queen chimera, though her folded position did no good to her experience. The poor creature looked downright horrible. Covered in her own blood, her skin slivering off and blood-veins showing through where the skin still lived, she was little of a horrible monster and much of man's seed of cruelty. She'd been their shield while crossing the distance from the open door, to the elevator, and she had remained so while Jake had blasted the door open as well as possible.

Kirindi didn't look much better either, her skin was much weaker than that of her sister, but at least she could decently move.

Finally, he looked at Shadhahvar, clutching her hand, and he hoped no gangrene would set in, as it had been exposed to the ice from a distance.

Another level passed. Finally, the android moved again. As Jake saw his hand rise, he knelt down again. "How're you doing?"

Now Jake thought about it, 921-Y looked like shit too in an android way. Before, he'd been a normal looking black haired man, now he looked like a dried up wax statue. He didn't want to think about he himself looked.

"I needed to reroute over my spare relays." the android said matter of factly. Jake grinned. "I thought so. Anyway, we're heading up. Our friend here sort of tricked the system into opening another door. He lost a lot of blood melting down control mechanisms as was breaching a way for us."

Most of the android's face was immobile, but he did manage to raise his eyebrows. Jake guessed the question. "That creature's sentient, I think. Just the way he reasons...or something sentient controls him."

"A queen." said 921-Y with a dry voice, while testing out the movement of his limbs.

"Something like Kirindi's sister there?"

"Yes."

Another muffed click betrayed another level passed.

"We should be up soon." said Jake, and took the android at an arm to pull him up. "Kirindi, you still awake?"

"Yes?"

"Can you tell ...uhm, our guide there, whether he can find the hangar? Just tell him to look for the biggest space around."

"He's hurting right now. Wait a bit."

"Hold it there. We have to get the other people out as well. Kirindi, tell him to lead us to the impregnation chamber. If all is well, the humans should still be there." said 921-Y resolutely.

"He's hurting right now. Wait a bit. We're not up yet." The queen chimera grunted, now slightly moving her tail and nearly chopping Shadhahvar's head off in the movement. It was too tight a space.

Another small thump that revealed they had passed another level. 921-Y closed his eyes, slumped back against the wall, and put extra energy on his modem. Once more, he tried to log into Utara.

To no avail, other than getting a vague signal that a few of his viruses at least were still active. It was rather odd though that the elevator moved without being stopped. It would have been a perfect trap, they had no other way out. Maybe it was because the designers of the ship feared that if something did go wrong, they'd have no way out. It was strange actually, that they feared giving full control to the System.

The door slid open, revealing yet another dark hall with sparse blue lights. But contrary to the lower levels, it was much, much warmer here. A pleasant temperature finally.

Shadhahvar bounced out immediately, a smile creeping on her face. "It's warmer here! Great!" Jake couldn't resist rolling his eyes with a grin, seeing her naïve behavior.

921-Y and Jake quickly followed her, as the queen chimera's patience with the cramp space was running low. She nearly burst out of it, tripped over her feet and smacked her face against the floor by accident. Shadhahvar against nearly got chopped in half by the swaying tail, but she was blissfully oblivious to it.

Their guide has no problem locating the impregnation chamber, he was born there after all several hours before.

Yet somehow, 921-Y was getting the impression they were taking a longer route than necessary. He didn't speak his worries yet, seeing as he had no reason to assume something bad, yet.

It didn't take more than a few halls though before he found the reason. A small smile appeared on Kirindi's face as she saw Sarah.

The woman was sitting on the ground, in a corner with blood all over her. Her hands were buried in her arms and she didn't look up as she heard them approach. One might expect her to be sobbing, but she was soundless.

Only when Jake detached from the group and went to her, putting a hand on her arm, she looked up. Obviously, she had been crying. "Are you alright?" Jake asked with a worried voice, believing the blood to be hers. But on closer inspection, it were merely splatters.

Kirindi crouched before her, trying to re-establish a connection with Sarah's mind. She'd lost her upon finding her sister, and he been too busy previously.

Sarah's grey eyes went from Jake to Kirindi, showing no apparent recognition, then they lingered on the drone. "So there you went." she said softly.

Her eyes remained glassy for a moment, then she seemed to snap awake and gasped as she looked to the other side of the hall, seeing the great chimera.

"You came for her, didn't you, Kirindi?"

Kirindi didn't respond, it hadn't been a question. Sarah had put two and two together on her own and gotten four.

"And you're an android." said Sarah, seeing 921-Y's white blood. Looking over the group, she came to the conclusion they'd been through a lot worse than she had seen previously. All of them were wounded, the humans covered in acid wounds and bleeding, the chimeras with cracked skin as if they'd been frozen, the android nearly torn apart.

Suddenly she pushed herself up on her feet. "I'm fine. Don't worry on me. You want to get the...other people?"

921-Y nodded. "They are-"

"I know where they are, I came from there. Oh, don't worry, this isn't their blood. It's from the scientists."

"Hold it. Miss Donovinh, please tell us what exactly happened. What do you know?" 921-Y realized perfectly well time wasn't something they could afford to waste. But at the same moment, he was programmed to have full awareness of the situation and right now he was not in possession of apaprantly vital details.

"I got the idea to join Kirindi, but I couldn't get to the lower levels, so then I got the idea to walk somewhere else. I came across acid burned doors and I came across a scientist. He died, that creature killed him right before my eyes. There were others too, like him. He drove me to that ...testing hall, and I saw those people, and got the idea I needed to free them. I failed, couldn't get into the software. I went up and saw the dead people, I know these monsters came from them...I know more than I should know, except that I don't know how I know." Her eyes became hazy again, and she grit her teeth together. "I don't understand anything anymore."

Kirindi's pale hand lightly touched Sarah's forehead as she stood up, and their eyes locked. In that split second, Sarah let Kirindi see an aspect of the truth that the android shouldn't know off, for the better.

"You are of no world."

"We will be of all worlds. Have trust."

"How could I not fear?"

Sarah stepped past Kirindi. Jake saw something more to it, but 921-Y was oblivious of it. "We'll explain later. Come on, I can probably log into the system manually. I still function, I should be able to keep Utara at bay."

With no more questions on either's behalf, the neared the testing hall. From the corners of her eyes, Sarah noticed the way the drone kept a distance from the queen chimera as much as possible. Oh, she did fear. But where would she send that fear? This wasn't something she could run from.

The door to the control room was systematically burned away, a mostly oval shape in the middle. It was relatively small, seeing as the young drones hadn't needed much space to get through. 921-Y stepped inside, to find little more than a very red room and bone splinters. The young chestbursters had wasted not time in growing, and had eaten whatever was available, taking the remainder of mass from the universe's dark matter.

While the rest went downward, 921-Y tried to find a gateway to access cyberspace. Kirindi's plasma caster had destroyed a good deal of the hardware, rendering the rest useless, but he managed to find a port in a corner.

As he hacked into the system he found the remainder of his viruses had allied, forming a new hybrid that kept Utara blind at the upper levels. He would have smiled if half his face hadn't been shredded by a drone's claws.

The host containment tubes detached from their stands, and as good as they could they began loading them back. A transport cart was still standing there, the scientists hadn't placed it away yet in anticipation of needing to get rid of the corpses later.

More than once the drone needed to keep a container from crashing to the ground, seeing as none of the humans present knew very well how to operate the robot that placed them. At one container, Jake thought he saw something move inside, but Kirindi distracted him at that moment and he forgot, for a while.

The child chimera knew she should have told, but she would not.

Once all containers were on the carts, a silent procession upwards began. Jake had pretty much accepted the off-scale situation, Shadhahvar regretted her ruined nails, Sarah fought a mental battle, and Kirindi's mind tried to find out what was going on for goodness sake.

The docks were reached without difficulty. To Jake, who had been crawling through ventilation shafts, cutting power-lines, dodging armed cyborg, fighting monsters with cyborg armguns and seeing his perception of the world completely rewritten in the span of a few hours, the calmness of the giant hall and its ships was almost like an anti-climax. Somehow he had expected last minute trouble to shoot out of a corner, but as the android said, the drones couldn't come on the higher levels, the ship could not manage sufficient control anymore.

921-Y had begun to explain something about a conflict between the main system Utara and something called Nuitar, but Jake was too tired to pay proper attention. What concentration he could manage he focused on driving the cart he was on. There was something that bothered him though, the increasingly agitated expression on Sarah Donovinh's face.

After a bit of maneuvering, they managed both heavy-loaded vehicles into the loading space of the Philidon. Just as they tried to figure out a way to fasten the carts in case of a rocky ride, the queen chimera collapses right behind them in the cargo bay.

"She must have run out of energy." stated the android, fastening another of the netted belts. Jake however stopped and walked around the large chimera. She looked exhausted enough but...Coming to the other side of the creature, he saw Shadhahvar at the hatch, eyes wide. When she saw his movement, she looked at him and pointed outside. "Jake what's going on?"

He needed no more convincing, something was wrong. He ran to the entrance and looked out, onto the dock.

He didn't expect this. Or maybe he did, but not just to her.

The black drone had placed himself between Sarah and the Philidon, and would not let her pass. Kirindi stood behind him, tensing her muscles. Just then, she tried to get past the drone, but the creature was in a less weakened state than the child chimera and easily bocked her with his tail. Kirindi man-made as the skeletal tail cut her stomach skin, and was whirled back harshly a moment later.

Sarah didn't move, she simply stood there, slightly shivering but her eyes showing her fear. She wanted to know why, but a clear answer didn't come.

He wouldn't let her on the ship. She'd walked of it for not good reason, but then she realized that made no sense, and she had resisted the impulse to leave the hangar altogether. Something made her want to wander away from rescue, but she fought it. At the same time, she was confronted with the black monster, blocking her way back in. What did he...they...want?

Clenching her hands, Sarah's mind became a near blank, asking why, why over and over again. She had seen enough, she wanted to go away from here. Away from this manmade gehenna.

Kirindi asked the same question, why, speaking clearly to the drone, but he ignored her perfectly. He knew only one thing, he had been ordered not to let that human aboard the ship. She were to stay here.

When the child chimera tried to go past him once more, he caught her again and threw her inside the Philidons cargo room. He started walking backward, keeping his head always in the humans direction.

Sarah took a step forward, and without hesitation he spit in her direction. It landed right between her feet, the floor instantly melting away. With a gasp she stepped back. The drone raised his head a little, the next time he'd hit her legs.

His threat was needles though, as the next moment, a door silently opened up, giving two humanoid shapes entrance to the fast hall. However, both the drone and Kirindi soon enough sensed no humans they were. Skin over metal, Isabel's guards were cyborg equipped to use firepower within spaceships.

With deadly precision, they aimed their weapons at the targets they had been ordered to obtain. Sarah found herself turning, watching them as they opened fire, the soundless voice commanding her to move. She stepped sideways, almost over the edge of the dock and was hit with full power, the bullets penetrating her body. Slumping down, she noticed the blood starting to color her clothing red. It was a strange thought that passed her mind at that moment, wondering whether she'd get any new ones or she'd have to wash them.

Kirindi, now in panic, dodged once more to reach Sarah, but the drone was faster. He twisted his tail around the small chimera and began dragging her into the ship. Her teeth were useless against his exoskeleton and before she could even think of a way to disjoint his tail, she was thrown against the wall of the cargo bay of the Philidon. She scrambled onto her feet, but the drone was already at the door, typing the code to close it. Kirindi, under the impression he would not know the code dodged towards the exit, only to slam against the closing door. When she tried to go underneath it, the drone took hold of her tail and force-full yanked her backward.

Jake still stared in the direction where he had seen Sarah's body lie, Shadhahvar clutching his arm in fear. He didn't get it anymore either. Stepping up to the monster and demanding he would change his mind and go out to help Sarah seemed ridiculous, he had pretty much caused her dead...and right now, it was the strongest thing in the place with the queen chimera out of consciousness.

Kirindi wailed in a soft, kittenlike voice. Her brow was furrowed down and her mouth wide open, revealing her lethal fangs, but she did not try to attack the drone, no matter how eager she was to harm him now. There was no explanation, no reason he gave her.

She had had no trouble accepting he was helping them, but this was without reason. Why leave her, when not the others?

"Kirindi, what did just happen?" Jake finally asked.

A soundless spear of light penetrated the outer wall at that moment; one of the cyborg had repositioned himself so that he was no longer facing the ships hull.

"I don't know...the machines..." she whispered.

Looking around, Jake now saw 921-Y was gone. "He's to the pilot cabin, needs to go in manually..." she said again. The small chimera was now utterly confused, the drone had as much left Sarah for dead, but now demanded they escape.

From outside, at the edge of the dock, nothing seemed to happen for a moment. Isabel had ordered her cyborg to breach the ramp first, any hole in it would make space travel a problem. With gaps in the cargo bay, they would not be able to leave as the hosts were in this bay. They'd be sucked into a thousand pieces by the void if the ship left enclosed space, and they did not have the time to relocate them, not before the machines had done considerable damage.

The drone however did not waste any time. He went to the hole and stood up, pulled his head a little back, and spat. Instead of acid, a strange ooze came out, covering the hole. He used his fingers to push it in a little and spread it. Then he dropped back and ran from the bay.

A small shock went through the ship, and as soon as Jake wondered what it was, Kirindi said :"The Philidon...they put in a weapon...he knows about the hole, but not it's closed now." She made no intention however to go tell the android, instead she crawled over to her sister and put her hands on the large head, rubbing her forehead against the creature's sternum.

She didn't seem to be thinking so clear anymore, so Jake took hold of Shadhahvar and pulled her along. "Where are we going?" asked the woman frantically. "Cockpit. Tell 921-Y to take off." Jake said briefly, pulling her along. "But that android is creepy!"

He rolled his eyes. Sure, of all things, the android is creepy. "You can play with the gun, I promise. Now come on, we're kind of in a life-and-dead situation, thank you." he said, trying not to think of the wounded, maybe dead woman on the docks.

_

* * *

_

Isabel looked at the message her cyborg had send her. Something was filling the holes they were making from the inside out in rapid speed. This wasn't good. At seeing the outer weapon system that had appeared on the Philidon, weak as it may be, she already suspected this "mission" of the android and the chimera was a lot more prepared than just a few obnoxious cybervirusses. All attempts at causing minor explosions had failed, the material was not what it appeared to be...

With a sigh, she ordered plasma fire. Better to blow them up than let them get away.

The cyborg, not both position in a way that would not cause misfire to breach the hull, did as they were told, burning two neat holes into the ship...to no avail. No explosion followed, and Isabel suspected the internal engineering was not like it should be either.

When she door behind her opened, she turned around to face Jonah. "Success?"

He nodded. "Nothing's going to log into the gates and open them, for sure."

She shrugged. "I am afraid it is rather useless though." she said. "They've got external weaponry on the ship, and it's made of a material much denser than what it seems to be. I'm sure they've got another trick..."

"Nonsense, they wouldn't have enough power to burn through the gates." said Jonah, gazing down on the ship far beneath them. The small control cabin offered a good view to the scene, using cameras for the lower areas. On one such a camera, Jonah spotted a tiny white, red and yellow dot. Isabel noticed him tense up, and she sighed again. Tapping the tc around her wrists, she gave another order to her cyborg.

"Secure ms. Donovinh before the hatches open, please."

Jonah merely clenched his teeth together. "She's dead. The gates won't open."

Isabel softly shook her head. "You think too slow."

One of the cyborg dots detached itself from its position, where as the other charged another plasma bolt and fired it.

This time however, it did not hit. A strange blue-green field flickered for a moment around the Philidon, before disappearing again. The ship was untouched, and the few holes of earlier plasma were being closed too by whatever it was on the inside.

"Cease fire." Isabel whispered in her tc.

The next moment, Utara's familiar voice announced all lifeforms were to leave the docks. The gates would open within a minute.

Jonah's mouth dropped a little. "How did you know?"

"If you did what I asked, you cut the modem in order to keep the gates closed. But some technology is beyond modems. Have you ever heard of the Terra Firma files?"

Jonah heard her alright, but his eyes followed the movements of the cyborg that was heading towards Sarah. "He'll be in time." Isabel said, seeing the screen he was looking at."

"She's dead. Too much blood." he said again.

Isabel closed the side-screen and called uniform view to show the gates. Indeed, they were opened, and without further ado, the Philidon detached itself from the ship.

"Come now, we have a lot of paperwork to do, doctor Bayard."

_

* * *

_


	9. Twisting Echoes

******· · · · · · ·**

_Time 2577, December 13_

_Location : Somewhere in hyperspace_

_**· · · · · · ·**_

Jake got a few delightful hours of anxiety and unanswered questions. The android had only given a warning that Shadhahvar shouldn't touch anything important looking before disappearing and muttered something about engines. Kirindi had glomped him quickly before gathering some bandage — that better be acid proof — to tend to her sister in cargo bay.

What little he did know was meager. He was in a cheap adventure story where he had escaped horrific death at the hands of mad scientists performing illegal experiments on alien lifeforms in a secret laboratory. There was no way to describe this without cliché adjectives. He decided it was a happier occupation to describe cliché adjectives to whatever the hell it was that was happening outside of the window. Seriously, aurora like flashes and no tacky stars or shiny nebulas? Most disappointing cruise view ever.

Sadly, that also the only source of light, so he couldn't exactly go catch up on the news or follow a fancy course. 921-Y had rerouted most of the second generator to some sort of alternate engine, and power was on reserve otherwise as much as possible. At least the heating was on in this area and he'd been able to get a cup of coffee.

Or more precisely, he was on his second pot. The idea of falling asleep had obtained an eerie tint.

He must have been drifting away anyway, because when he heard something too close by, he startled awake. The pot clattered on the ground. Instinctively he wanted to swear at Shadhahvar for having woken him, but that hope was lost. It wasn't Shadhahvar who stood before his table.

The alien drone softly swayed its tail as it loomed over him, no details visible as it was only outlined by the bizarre lights. Jake felt like a mouse, the cat before him annoyed that he didn't run and play. What would it do, without the chimera girls around?

Something dropped on the table before him, and the drone lowered itself on its haunches. Now he had light again, Jake saw it was a candle and a box of matches.

Well ... that was surprisingly useful and non-lethal.

And then quick as a breeze, the drone had shot off into the dark.

Having nothing better to do, Jake lit the candle, and after a decently sized hesitation — there was drool all over the candle, he realized too late — he followed the drone.

Like a rat it skittered ahead of him. Jake had the feeling it could be just as quiet, but that it was making noise so he could follow. In the few glimpses he saw of it in the candlelight, he saw the solid hide slick with secretion, which gave him a lurching disgust. He realized he would have felt like this from the moment he laid eyes on these things, but any sickening sensation had been cancelled out by the mental touch of Kirindi. She didn't think they were disgusting, so neither did he. With her attention to the hivemind now mostly on her sister, Jake became a little more like himself again. This disturbed him increasingly, but that feeling never reached heights.

He stumbled over something. Looking down, his foot had caught in a heap of clothing. A little further away lay an open suitcase.

The drone hissed impatiently and Jake quickly went on. Their destination followed the trail of looted luggage to the room Shadhahvar had been assigned.

The door was closed and the drone was trying to type an access code with its long fingers. The code kept being rejected, and he tried new variants. When Jake wondered what was going on, the answer was slung into his mind : Shadhahvar sucked at telepathy and didn't manage to transfer the entrance code.

Jake walked up and typed the correct one.

The door itself may have opened silently, but on cue screaming burst from the room. Shadhahvar had shot up from the bed and stared wide eyed at the drone. Her flailing hand had knocked a candle over and the sheets were catching fire. Instinctively Jake dove for the bed and tore off the sheets, causing Shadhahvar to tumble to the ground.

Bathroom, bathroom ... he spotted the door, shoved it open and threw the sheets in the shower. Water was fortunately not off here. He stood there for a bit, watching the flames die off.

"Jake, make him stop that," Shadhahvar whimpered behind him.

Curious, Jake returned to the main room. The scene hadn't changed much, Shadhahvar still sat on the ground and the drone stood in the door as motionless as a statue.

"What? He's not doing anything."

"That..." she raised her hand and waved at the drone's head. "...the echo thingy. In my head."

"Echo...thingy?" asked Jake, and it took a second before he understood. "Shadhahvar, try to listen. What is he saying?"

"Saying? Nah, its just this really annoying sound."

"Hm-hm. Shadey, come on, I want to test something." He held out a hand to help her stand.

"Wha? Where to? I don't want to leave, I'm fine here. The rest of the ship freaks me out, it has no lights."

"No, we're not going anywhere. Do you know what a hive mind is?"

"No..." said the woman, finally turning her eyes towards him. "What does it want from me?"

"Just relax, I read about this once," he said. It wasn't like her brain could be damaged much more.

**· · · · · · ·****  
**

Kirindi had a few memories that were not quite her own, yet they had never belonged to another body. Shioying had liked to make dolls from rags she found, and Kirindi had continued this ritual. The things she made dolls off though were quite different. Shioying had made friends from her imagination and her stories, which Kirindi felt no need to. She had her hive, so she made those in her hive, and the dolls were no less fantastical for this reason.

She had always felt she had a sister alive somewhere, but hadn't known what she had looked like until today, so she hadn't been able to make her a doll. It was important her big sister was initiated as quickly as possible, now she knew how important the dolls were. Couldn't feel left out.

The doll was made off towel, for now, and not as nice as it could have been if she had material straight from the market. However, it would do the trick. She would upgrade it later. With a sense of pride she presented it to her sister, but she couldn't clearly see the results. Carefully, Kirindi placed it in her large hand. With thick, slow fingers, her sister felt the gift. It confused her a great deal, that Kirindi would place so much meaning behind the object, but at the same time, she understood the meaning existed.

Part of that meaning was diversion. Her sister had a single track mind and now the joy of finding kin turned to the overpowering acceptance of the natural state, her mind turned back to her pain. Enigma II had taken a heavy toll on her and she was not healing as quickly as Kirindi knew she should be able to.

Her sister opened her mouth, a rasping, hiccuping sound coming out softly. One might have mistaken it for laughter, but Kirindi knew her sister to be attempting a word. Her sister didn't communicate in clear words, but in feelings and memories in order to indicate things. The traitor Jonah had never taught her sufficiently.

Kirindi tried to decipher it, but instead of her sister she became aware of another mental sound. It had no physical origin, existing only in her brain and didn't last long. She decided to ignore it, but the sound returned with persistence. It faded again and then returned in intervals. Kirindi had patience, but her sister less so. _She_ wanted it to stop now.

Kirindi leaned her forehead against that of her sister briefly, intoning her to calmness, then darted out of the cargo bay. Leaving her sister now felt wrong, she was so weak, but Kirindi couldn't do much else for her than make that sound stop.

As the distance increased and she sharpened her focus, she found the source. Shadhahvar's room.

The door was open, the walls holding more movement through flickering candles than from the creatures in the room.

Shadhavar was covered in weird colors on the bed and had her eyes closed while making a strange throaty noise. That was perfectly normal, according to Jake's memory she always slept like that. Jake was aside of her, failing to end his boredom by reading one of Shadhahvar's magazines. Aside of the bed, the drone was reading a digital book about philosophy.

Huh. Kirindi lived near an interstellar market, she had seen her share of diversity. A kainde amedha showing that kind of interest was still too much out there.

"Well, that took its time," Jake said.

Kirindi tore her eyes from the drone and tilted her head slightly. "What did?"

"Your response. He's been producing some sort of hive calling for a while now. It actually lulled Shadey to sleep, we used her to provide the voice."

"We only heard it a few minutes ago," Kirindi said. "It's very annoying."

Jake sighed. "I guess it needs fine-tuning? Anyway, now you're here-"

"He needs to stop doing it," Kirindi hissed at the unresponsive drone. Mentally, she assaulted the drone. Within seconds, Shadhahvar woke with a start, the drone launched itself at Kirindi. She had not expected this sudden hostility and scrambled out the door. The drone threw her to the ground with a loud shriek, making it known it did not appreciate anyone but its queen to give it a command.

An ordinary drone would have continued to solidify this statement by tearing her apart, but this one just retreated back into the room.

"Holy crap, what just happened?" Jake asked, barely audible below Shadhahvar's screaming.

Kirindi mentally collected herself and stood back up. She became away of Jake's thoughts, he was annoyed this hadn't gone as intended ...

What had been the intention, she silently asked.

He appeared in the doorway and smiled apologetically, his new fear ebbing away under pressure from the drone's voice in the hivemind.

"You know, we need to talk. He's been telling us a lot of things, if you could just listen for a while..."

It did make sense. In their current little hivemind, the drone was the only other naturally skilled user, and she had been more occupied with her sister than anything. It troubled her that she had competition with agency of its own, when a proper hive only had one leader.

However, her personal leader was not here, and she could not easily tell him what had transpired and expect only advice. He's be more than a little angry to learn that there were actual kainde amedha in their hivemind now. Her best bet was to negotiate, as unnatural as that was. If it was using Jake as proxy, then fine. Jake was more inclined towards her kind of hivemind than he was to that of the drone, she could listen to him and not expect trouble.

She stepped back into the room and sat down on the bed. Shadhahvar had stopped screaming, but her mind still was an unpleasant jumble, even more so since the drone found it easiest to use her as modem. Jake took a seat in one of the chairs and needed a moment to orient his thoughts.

"Sarah was tagged. After you left her, some guy named Jonah returned to his room and placed a chip in her stomach, wanting to make sure his colleagues didn't take her anywhere where he couldn't find her," Jake said. Accompanying this were the disorientating memories of the drone and Sarah's experiences, filtered through the mind of a creature that had no eyes. It was hard to discern, but the information Jake said wasn't in those memories. She let her distrust be known to Jake, expecting further explanation.

"His mother seems to have seen it and told him. Now, please listen, there is more."

**· · · · · · ·****  
**

921-Y was a highly advanced android with full capability to adapt to new information and integrate it in ways superior to humans. Confusion was not an emotion he needed beyond simulation, so when his data reached a difficult spot, he just patiently waited it out. He did not often get in this state, and now that he was, he found that his programming for patience was lacking.

A few minutes ago, Jake had dropped by and told him of new developments. Apparently, he and Shadhahvar had persuaded Kirindi to fully accept the drone into her hivemind and she had learned very unsettling things from this.

He continued working in a mostly aimless attempt to fix optimizize the state of the ship while muling it over in his minds. The facts were simple but had little place with the mass of other facts. Internecivus Raptus were not supposed to be more than highly intelligent animals. They didn't do things like helping people escape. While record existed of the Queen Mother recruiting humans into her hivemind for purposes, that situation hardly applied here in a way that could explain the drone's behavior. It had not attempted to make them free it's queen, yet according to Jake, this queen existed. She was alive and well on Enigma II, which coincided with the data he had : the drone's mother was in fact preserved, if in cryogenic sleep.

Repeat, cryogenic sleep. She shouldn't be able to do things like telepathically finding out about transmitters in human bodies that might betray her escaping drone in the future. She shouldn't be able to comprehend that idea of transmitters at all, since according to the files she'd been plucked from a wild world and had no previous contact with human technology.

All xenomorphs had advanced sentience, but sapience was another thing. They appeared to have a genetic block against this kind of evolution, otherwise they would inherit matching intelligence from their host bodies. They used their acid blood, but didn't use guns. They set traps, they didn't build bombs. They telepathically invaded dreams, but didn't read minds and learn the code to cargo bay doors.

So if no ordinary xenomorph drone, what did he had aboard here?

Whatever it was, he couldn't write about it in his rapport.

If a sapient xenomorph queen existed who was so sharp, despite cryogenic sleep, that she could figure out the code of a door and pass it to her drone, then she would know about a lot more, like the bomb he had placed. The one that would kill her if it went off. That would give her proper impetus to tell the humans about it, something that would only be hindered by the humans using drugs and implants.

Perhaps that could explain why the queen had ordered her drone to help. She would know that the Philidon was a destruct mechanism installed, in case the mission failed and tracks needed to be covered. Kirindi knew this, and she did not eagerly keep secrets in her hivemind.

If he presumed that Kirindi's knowledge was available to that queen, then said queen would know she benefited from her drone helping them. It would extend her life, in essence. Sarah being declined escape would prevent the drone being tracked to Kiyasumeni, and thus Enigma II wouldn't put a fire below those who had planted the bomb, prompting them to detonate sooner.

If the queen could plan to this advanced level, she probably also had a plan to escape from Enigma II. All going on this hypothetical intelligence, it would suit such a plan to have Auton allies. The Auton would not easily ally with a xenomorph, off course, but they already were allied with Kirindi and she now seemed to trust the drone, if Jake's words were anything to go by.

Typical. Off course the simple humans and the partial xenomorph would now ascribe trustworthiness to the drone. Honesty had a tendency to inspire this in natural creatures, which was a social construct rather than a feat of logic. True, an often useful social construct, but ultimately honesty didn't mean much. The honest could still deceive and harm in other ways. Auton were more cautious with giving trust.

Here it was that he ran into a personal glitch. His duty was to be honest to his superiors, but the knowledge of their response hampered this inclination. He knew as much as they would know the threat of a sapient xenomorph queen. Their lack of sapience was the one thing that prevented the xenomorph from being the dominant species in the galaxy. Knowing a queen existed with sapience would be a good reason to detonate the bomb ahead of schedule.

And yet they already had xenomorph on their side, if indirectly. Despite her appearances, Kirindi had the silicones and exoskeleton of a xenomorph, and the single track hivemind that belonged to it. Wouldn't it be interesting if the silicone Auton could ally with the silicone xenomorph?

Anchored to the controls of the ship as he was, he couldn't go to the cargo bay of the ship to see what was going on there, but an audio channels was open. A while ago, Kirindi had returned there together with Shadhahvar and the drone, and now Jake had joined them.

Sometimes, he heard them laugh.

How much would it harm for him to gather more information about this situation before telling? Hadn't he been equipped with personality for such decisions?

Dishonesty was an option right now. It was ironic he would choose it to be able to find out how reliable mortal trust was.

**· · · · · · ·****  
**

When Kirindi handed him a clumsily made rag doll in his image, Jake had initially thought it was some sort of joke. Perhaps it was the stitchy grin that inspired that idea, but through the creeping knowledge of the hivemind, Jake became aware of Kirindi's offended response. For her, this was a more potent social ritual than anything else, perhaps the only one she believed in. How does one apologize telepathically?

"Wow, you're really good at this, Kiri!" said Shadhahvar, peeking over Jake's shoulder. "That is so Jake!"

With absurd quickness, Kirindi's sour mood vanished. She smiled at Shadhahvar and grabbed cloth for the next doll. Her sister's massive head hovered above her, occasionally making grunting noises as Kirindi worked.

Shadhahvar ran off again, scourging through the cargo pay in the hopes of finding a button that responded. Considering she wasn't whining out of boredom, Jake guessed the hivemind was in full swing. He himself was pleasantly calm and had no qualms about just sitting here and watching the two sisters. This calmness lasted until Kirindi had finished Shadhahvar's doll, and the subject of dollification came to see.

"I don't have brown hair! Its black when I paint it and auburn when I don't! And my eyes aren't just blue, they are sky azure! You got sky azure paint right there! And my breasts aren't this small either! And the clothes are-ouch!" She rubbed her head where Jake had janked on her hair.

Kirindi was strangely enough less offended at this response. He didn't understand, but apparently he communicated that poorly or she wasn't interested in explaining. There was a distinct sense of _not important_. Kirindi didn't seem like the person to question why she was the way she was.

At this, her dark eyes suddenly looked up.

"I know myself well enough. Maybe you should question yourself, for I merely responded to you and to her on base of what I knew of you."

She didn't wait for a response and turned all her attention to the next doll, which would be the drone.

Wanting to rid of the uncomfortable feeling he was left with, Jake asked, ""So...how do you name him?"

With a determined shake of her head, she said, "I don't do naming. I never do naming. Parents only do naming. I am not parent."

"Oh ... that again, I remember now. So, this guy, Kargaate, he's your dad?" Jake was puzzled, 921-Y talked about Kirindi as a chimera : something that was constructed, so perhaps it wasn't her real father and...

A loud beep from a nearby intercom sounded as the screen flicked on.

"You'll have to excuse me for listening. Kirindi, you cannot tell Karga'te about this drone, or anyone else for that matter," the android said.

Kirindi looked up with surprise, then her face turn to sadness. "I dislike to lie to him."

"You lied in order to get on this mission."

"No, I just didn't tell where I was going or for how long."

"Listen, none of you can tell anything about this creature. I want you to come up in a while and we will discuss what we will tell my superiors."

Kirindi frowned. "You want to hide him, why?"

"Do you agree that he should live?"

"Yes," Kirindi said without hesitation, while Jake was just starting to wonder what was best. "He will stay nameless then."

Jake was pretty sure that was a very annoyed android. "Kirindi, for practical purposes I will refer to the drone as Odygos. What I'm about to do to my memory files will require designations.

"Does this guy have some sort of allergy against explaining things when it's time for that?" Jake asked.

Shadhahvar scratched her head, then reached a conclusion. "No, that's a trick question! Androids cannot have allergies!"

"Let's just go." He stood up and pulled Shadhahvar along, but Kirindi just continued with the doll.

Odygos. She had decided to accept the name on the rationale that since the android took a protective role, he could be considered a parent.

Jake lingered in the doorway, forgotten by Shadhahvar as she ran ahead.

"Hey, Kirindi, what will happen if your father finds out?"

She looked up again, this time there was pain on her face.

"The first thing he asked of me was that I do not become like the kainde amedha. He won't understand that this drone doesn't mean I'm not growing a hive."

"But you're not starting a hive. It's just one drone and he doesn't even obey you."

There wasn't just one drone, she let him know. There would be more. There was a plan. He'd been told the details, but lacked the instinct to understand the broad strokes, he had no sense to recognize the call of a queen. It was like seeing the waves on the surface of the ocean only, while these creature before him could feel the force that drove the waters.

Kirindi half stood to brush her forehead against her sister's, they came to a decision. At the same time, the drone — Odygos stood up and approached a nearby cryotube, opening it.

Out came a single orincubix, slithering across the floor towards the queen chimera. Kirindi bent down and let it walk across her arm, up to her shoulders. It seemed for a moment as if it would latch onto her face, but then lost interest in her. Jumping from Kirindi to her sister, the orincubix latched onto the large chimera's face, though this was a lot harder than with a small human face. It only stayed there for a moment, just long enough for Jake to become worried at this strange event.

When it let go again and returned to Odygos, Kirindi smiled. "It's going to be alright. My sister's been given help, to become more stable now."

"It didn't implant anything?"

"Just released nanotech. The sort that probes the body and figures out what's useful. With children from his Mother, this process can do more."

She stood up and walked up to him. "Come, 921-Y waits."

**· · · · · · ·****  
**

She hadn't refused to talk to the drone, nor had her opinion changed because she had heard the real reason Sarah had not been allowed on board.

In fact, she and her sister had heard the _real_ real reason, unlike Shadhahvar and Jake. It wasn't a lie that Sarah was a liability, but it was more true that she was useful elsewhere. Nothing about this all had changed her opinion of the drone. He and his mother were kainde amedha, and they sacrifices as they saw fit.

The way they sacrificed was different, however, and that they understood the consequences meant something. Odygos had apologizied, for as far as a kainde amedha could do this. It meant nothing to him and he possessed no regret, but the gesture was understood. If anything, the fact he mentally had apologized for doing that to Sarah meant that he could learn what it really meant.

This meant he was something like her after all, not just a monster.

**· · · · · · ·****  
**


	10. Collective minds

A/N : Warning, this is a rewrite! For the confused people, see my profile. If you haven't been following this story till the date of this update, proceed :). This used to be part of chapter four.

**_

* * *

_**

**Collective minds**

_Time : December 14, 2577_

_Location : Planet Kyacumeni (unauthorized for humans due to unfortunate terraformation side effect.)_

_

* * *

_

The dawn's soft breeze started plucking flares of mist from the forest. The untainted hemisphere spread its starlight broadly over the scene, adding to its mystical atmosphere. Paradise still, Kyacumeni represented what Earth once was.

Every passing cargo ship or United Systems craft would see a lush green planet only broken by the blue of oceans, was it not that the travelers were in cryogenic dorm.

Few of the Nations ever set foot on this planet though, despite it appearing such a beneficial place for vacations. The main reason for this could only be seen up close on the planet, in the form of its wildlife.

Recreating the true garden of Eden had been the promotional line of the entire enterprise. At first it had been a success, using certains plants from the Mesozoic Era of Earth proved to be perfect on the volcano ridden planet, transforming it from rough dead land into teeming wilderness in little time.

But then the forest had started shrouding and killing itself, as no modern day creature functioned within the prehistorical eco-system. Of course, they then recreated the animals for that ecosystem, saying they could control them. They had no truth to back up that statement however, only the few remains of animals that had lived on some place named Isla Sorna a long time ago.

Less than half a year after the introduction of the dinosaurs, civilization had been evacuated. Remnants of a few cities stood to waste, used now by smaller dinosaurs for raising their young. Mankind had little interest in inhabiting this world now, elimination would take too long, survival was too dangerous.

Hence, it was perfect for certain others.

The Pegarus lowered gently through the atmosphere, cloaked from view even in the darkness. Where as the Philidon had been a rather plump ship of human build, merely administered with a touch of alien mechanics to enable the creation of a wormhole, this vessel was sleek and swift and designed for warping space.

Smoothly it moved into an unseen gap in the jungle, right behind a gigantic plateau with a steep, nearly vertical descending wall. Sheltered by the forest giants, there was a cave in the rockwall, large enough for the ship to enter into. Once under the cover of the trees, the cloaking flickered off and the silver form of the ship briefly reflected the starry skies before shifting into the shadows.

The underground hangar closed its gates right after the vessel had entered, capturing a bit of the high mists into the large space. From the darkness numerous pale shapes detached and machines hidden in the walls came into motion. All proceeded to work with no more than a rustle of cloth and iron, except when a pair of chain clattered against a large rock.

Robotic arms reached out to the ship from the walls. Simultaneously a hatch atop of it opened, revealing fifty cryogenic tubes in the cargo bay. A few of the pale people climbed atop of the ship to supervise the unloading of the cryogenic humans, all without a word as they served by the same matrix.

They had expected maybe two to be empty, yet they found five without passenger. This was merely the first of a series of questions to rise. Attempts to log into Acrariel 921-Y's mind failed, indicating that at least his modem was dysfunctional, if not more.

When the door at the side opened, they could all see that the plan had not gone according to original intentions. The android missed parts of skin layering and his chest was partially open. Some areas of him seemed to be burned off by liquid and he was leaning on the shoulders of a man.

The gynoid standing closest to him opened her mouth, asking what they all wanted to know. "Did you succeed?"

"We have succeeded." he said softly.

A few of them smiled, those gifted with advanced personalities.

921-Y continued. "The bomb has been planted safely while Utara was blind and we have _her_."

"Good." said the gynoid gently. "Please, come now, you are in bad shape. We must take care of you." She extended her hand, wanting him to follow, but he deflected softly and gripped Jake's shoulder to keep the man from following her.

"Wait. He and his friend, they'll need explanation and the chimeras need aid and-" started 921-Y with a worried glance.

"You know you need not to worry. Please come now." she said, extending her hands to take him over from Jake.

But at that moment, her eyes went wide.

Left above 921-Y's head she knew the hatch to the Pegarus' cargo bay to be, and she now stared in that direction with unbelieving eyes. From the bay a large white corona emerged, almost identical to that of an Internecivus Raptus queen. The massive creature hauled itself out of the ship where the machines just barely had removed the cryogenic containers.

Two overly long fore-arms, instead of four, but it stood on its hind legs similar to a queen nonetheless. As it turned its head to look around, a skeletal humanoid face appeared where a queen's jaws would have been. A pair of deep black eyes scanned the surrounding and slowly it opened its fanged mouth to utter a low whine.

She overlooked the many warm beings that yet were not as living life, and still they were. No minds for her to probe, yet they looked like humans; she did not understand.

They stared back at her, a few mouths dropped a little in programmed reflex. Weak morning light entered through an opening in the ceiling, painting the meeting as one of phantoms. All ghastly white faces, reflections of the denied sides of humankind each and every one of them.

The queen chimera was impressive and yet terrifying at the same time. So human and innocent in her expression, so lethal in form and ability.

As she dropped on all fours, she slipped off the smooth roof of the ship, collapsing against the ground and screaming in pain as her already wounded skin scraped at the rocky floor. The Auton swarmed away to a safe distance, their eyes ever fixed on the creature that they had not expected to see this way. Everything Kirindi was not had come here.

The gynoid standing near 921-Y spoke up the thought most of the Auton had; "You brought a queen here." A curtain of angered and fearing silence had fallen over their collective minds, they did not know well what to say. Some were eager to shout their thoughts, but the matrix of all their minds suppressed that response.

Kirindi as a praetorian stage chimera was always found to protect whatever she deemed queen or parent, would that shift now to her sister? They had never truly known how the child's mind had worked.

921-Y raised his free hand in a calming manner. "Please, don't worry, Persy, everyone. I did not know what kind of creature I would see until I met her, but I assure you, it is safe. She cannot breed, I downloaded files from Utara before losing my modem."

A hundred quiet eyes watched at the child chimera darted out of the ship, ignorant of their worries as she began to help her sister stand up, as well as her small body could at least.

All of the Auton had their own opinions, some voiced them loudly in the matrix, others contributed them softly. They had known Kirindi's sister would probably not look very much like the chimera they knew, but they had still expected something more humanoid and less monstrous.

"Are they all Auton?" asked Jake suddenly, feeling uncomfortable with the silence.

"Yes. There are a few humans, but for the most part we are all android and gynoid."

"There are so many. I never thought so many had survived. How are you named?"

921-Y gave him an odd look. "Naming a group is for those who wish to leave a mark on society. We want to remain unseen." With that, he turned to the mass again and spied over it.

"Where is Anudjan? Why is he not here, of all times?" he asked coldly.

"At the capital, negotiating." said the gynoid before him, finally stepping up to take over support from Jake, as she found it to take a little too long.

"Jake, get Mary Sue and follow me. Persy, I'll be okay, please see to it that Kirindi and her sister get fixed up before a certain individual sees her like that." With that, he made his way through the mass leaning on the gynoid's shoulder. Jake quickly went inside and appeared again, carrying Shadhahvar on his back. The woman had not quite caught onto the plans of how not to tell the story, so they had decided to knock her out.

As he walked off the hatch, he cast a final glance towards the two chimeras. The queen was on her feet again, stumbling slightly as she followed her sister and a few androids towards a wall. As they walked right to it, the rock shimmered away and revealed to be no more than a hologram. Then they were out of sight.

Jake caught up as quick as he could, and resumed place aside of 921-Y.

"Hey, what did you mean, before a certain individual sees Kirindi like that? You mean the guy that adopted Kirindi?" 921-Y nodded gravely.

"I think this is a stupid question, but if he is so worried about her, uhm, how come he let Kirindi go on this mission in the first place? Kirindi seems kinda, you know, loyal. I mean, not that she'd do it without permission."

"Well...he said 'they' would not be going on this mission, but never specifically forbid her to go without him, so we sort of talked her into it and then lied to him about what we needed her for. I suspect he already is pissed off, seeing her like that might have rather...destructive results." said 921-Y casually. Jake really wished that the androids face had not been so damaged, a facial expression would have been quite useful to understand that. But other than a brief explanation of the situation, 921-Y once again resorted to silence.

With a shrug he shook it off. However, that motion woke up Shadhahvar, who found herself in a new environment, hopped off Jake's back and started asking a flood of questions. Jake felt a unhealthy headache coming up.

_

* * *

_

"Odygos."

The concept of a 'name' was strange to him. The fake human had given him one, saying it would do best to identify him. It had to do with creating a folder to store memory files in. Whatever folders and files were. It wouldn't have mattered to him if it wasn't that ever since then, the Sisters had begun telepathically relaying that name to address his entity.

He tried to cope with being designated as an individual. Normal drones should be bodies, not individuals. Odēgós and Odysseus, one meaning "guide", the other meaning something like "pain", efficiently combined into what he was called. In retrospect, perhaps he should see it as a just another word, like they would call all others born from his Mother Odygos as well.

They were calling him again. Quietly, he send them his recognition of the call. Yes, he had succeeded. He was outside, in the jungle, and on his back the orincubix was clamped.

With success and horrible pain he had lifted along outside the Pegarus, after they had abandoned the Philidon and blown said ship up. Outside had been absolutely a requirement, as the Pegarus was manned with two androids, those designated to blow up the Philidon in case of failure on Enigma II.

As the ship had descended on Kyacumeni, he had leaped off the ship towards a tree, but the searing sting of the wormhole's energies travel had rendered his landing quite badly. Though, most importantly, the Carrier was safe and in one piece.

He would now have to find an suitable host. Indeed, he was the guide. What he carried on his back was the warrior, an embryo specifically instructed by the Mother herself to be the guardian to the two Sisters. For that purpose he needed to find a warrior host.

Surrounding the plateau was a dense rainforest, still damp from recent monsoon. The scent of many carbon based lifeforms spread throughout the grounds and into the air, the echo of heavy and light creatures was so intense he could hear no further than a few meters. He searched and found a high tree and climbed it with some effort.

Near the forest roof he stayed, waiting for regeneration to progress.

Meanwhile, he send another echo to get a clear picture of the surrounding, to little avail. He might have to rely on his energetic sense, which wasn't particularly a drone's strongest point. But he had a bit of time; the Carrier would last.

After half an hour, he had reached a fairly accurate image of the area. Partially echo, partially scent and mostly telepathy, a map in his mind told him to the east there was a large group of animals, he would see whether there was anything suitable amongst those.

Descending from his tree, he jumped into the undergrowth and stalked towards his targets, still minding his wounds though. Hopefully, he wouldn't meet anything big to battle.

_

* * *

_

"Actually I have no idea. I think it has something to do with the dalnauri Shadey there drinks a lot, I accidentally took a zip from it and well, it's very strong stuff." said Jake, trying to seem as relaxed as possible. Telling the events of the past day without including the drone was quite not as easy as he had assumed, so he focused on anything that did not involve their little trek.

"It's probably why Shadey is awake now again, after she hit her head."

The android before him nodded empathetically, he had been created as a doctor and hence was adept in emotion, or at least pretending it. At the moment however, he was a little more interested in treating Jake's wounds.

"Asshole! You hit me on my head!" shouted Shadhahvar from her corner.

Jake tensed, almost praying she wouldn't spill anything. The android treating him noticed it and looked up. "Something the matter?"

"Well, uhm..." His mind ran over a few options and he decided to play it for chivalry.

"It was something of an accident, she was getting really on my nerves and I pushed her away and, well I kinda feel bad for knocking a girl out but she just is-" The only actual sting of chivalry was a vague memory that his mother didn't like people pretending to be chivalrous and pious; when need required it he had never had problems with harming anyone, a bit at least.

A loud clang sounded up as Shadhahvar leaped from the table she was on, shoved aside the gynoid that tried to bandage one of her wounds and marched to Jake.

"You see this bump? That's gonna stay like that for days! How am I supposed to wash my hair when it hurts like that?"

Jake gave a pained looked, fortunately the androids before him seemed to buy the psychological response as real. "I do see the problem." said the android, calmly directing Shadhahvar back to her table.

"How is Kirindi and her sister now?" said Jake, trying to shift the subject of conversation. Though, the android hadn't quite been making conversation, and Jake didn't realize yet he was a too obvious ball of tensed nerves.

"We don't know yet." answered the doctor.

"What do you mean?"

"We have few tools that can be used to investigate a create of Amy B's size and acid level. We just hope Kirindi is not physically linked to her sister, as-"

"They're gonna die!" asked Shadhahvar, again leaving her table with a shove. This time however, she ripped loose a piece of bandage and skin as she did so. She squealed and looked like a beaten dog. Sheepishly, she sat back down as the gynoid pushed her back once more.

"Nobody said they are going to die."

Jake didn't respond to it. He wondered just a little why that thought seemed to bother him, he'd only met them after all.

"They are just children, aren't they? I mean, Kirindi looks like a woman but she acts like a child, and her sister even more so."

The doctor nodded again.

"Sir, if I may ask...are you hiding something? It is very unusual for a human in your position to ask about anything and tell about anything, except asking what will become of themselves. You are aware that you are in the middle of a base of renegade Auton, declared enemy of the human Nations."

Jake felt like he was caught. The doctor noticed the slight flinch in his face and proceeded :"What will happen to you next, haven't you wondered about this for a moment? Unless something else is occupying your mind predominantly."

Opening his mouth to object, Jake remembered that some doctor androids were programmed with the capability of judging human behavior in its context. Whatever he said would be a lie, and hence testify something was wrong.

At that moment however salvation came from a strange corner as Shadhahvar shouted :"That's because he has been drinking my dalnauri and he didn't tell me about it and now he is totally drunk because the stupid little dipstick isn't used to it and doesn't want to admit it!"

The doctor looked at her and asked :"Do you have any samples of this dalnauri for me to test?" His calm voice suddenly irked Jake a lot.

The next moment Jake fell to the ground, laughing out loud.

Thank goodness he had indeed taken a second zip of Shadhahvar's drink in order to stay awake, just before leaving the Philidon. Not enough to give him such a laughing fit, but good enough for the moment to cover up his odd behavior.

"I am lying on the ground, faking laughter and drunkenness in order to protect the presence of a very ugly, drooling black inhuman monster and his mother that I never met, completely ridiculing myself in the process. Something is very fishy about that." he thought, and the laughter turned genuine.

A sudden loud noise caught his attention, combined with glass spraying everywhere.

Forgetting his charade, Jake jumped up, only to find his doctor with a long metal bar through his stomach. Shadhahvar was screaming again, her own attendant trying to calm her down.

"Oh crap, what now?" Jake said in rising panic, immediately moving to help the android pinned to the wall. It didn't take much pulling to get him loose, as the rocky wall crumbled quite easily.

Whatever it was that had thrown the metal bar had moved on, apparently, as no more flying objects came in their direction. Jake looked down at the white blood coming out of the android's wound. A human would easily have died from being impaled one side to another, but the android managed to stand up quickly, though obviously in very much pain.

"That was quite an interesting shift in mood, mister Jake." said the doctor, as if nothing special had occurred.

"Never mind that! What the heck just happened?" said Jake, turning to look at the broken window.

"Kirindi's foster father came by, I think." said the gynoid as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "He is likely in a bad mood."

Jake's mouth dropped a little. "And he gets away with piercing random people like that? If you had been a real human, you would have been dead!"

The doctor raised his hand in a soothing matter. "He knows most of us are androids and-"

"I can't believe a man like that raised Kirindi! Piercing random people is not normal behavior!" Jake found himself a little bit too upset, more than he normally would have been. Perhaps because he had been drinking some of Shadey's stuff...he didn't quite care actually.

"Kirindi and her sister are way too kind to be taken care of by someone who pierces random people just because he is pissed. That is not a good example!"

Aggressively, Jake stepped to the door and out. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to do though. He noticed a few of the lights in the barren stone hall had gone out, something had apparently broken them.

Shadhahvar darted after him, holding him back by grabbing his arm. "Don't go after him! This is too scary!"

"Well, then you can stay back." Jake said, pushing Shadhahvar back and blocking the door with another bar he found on the ground. It would probably take a while before she figured out she could climb out of the broken window.

Inside, the doctor sat down on his table and investigated his wound. "It is a good thing Karga'te stocked up his anger until they came back, he'll probably turned his attention to the sisters soon." he said, still calm. The gynoid doctor nodded in acknowledgment.

"About that man, do you think he was their hive-mind and then rejected?"

The android shook his head. "I'd say he has been denied in the first place. He would have other, fiercer symptoms if he had been cast out. Remember Evelyn."

The gynoid looked at Shadhahvar, jerking and pushing at the door, which didn't bulge off course.

"I think I should go after Jake regardless, he doesn't know _what_ Kirindi's 'father' is and we don't know to what extend this man will respond to the Hive Touch."

"Agreed."

_

* * *

_

Along the way, Jake found several other androids who had apparently been attacked. He felt a rising anger, making him go on. The hall only led in one direction so far and he didn't quite know whether he was following it the right way, but somehow, he just needed to move.

When an old-looking man with grey hair suddenly stood before him, he was caught quite off guard.

"Are you Kargaate?"

The man, startled himself, took a step back from the bewildered looking human before him.

"Not the last time I checked." said the stranger in a friendly voice. "More so, I am heading to have a word with him."

Jake eased a little.

"I don't know what I'm doing here, actually." he suddenly heard himself say. As if encouraging that notion, he looked around and found himself in a place less rocky and like a cave. The walls were still earthen, but more polished. It was still dimly lighted though and Jake quickly turned his eyes back to the man, who was holding a strange light in his hands.

The man seemed curious for a moment but then said :"I'm afraid I cannot help you right now. There is an emergency. It would be safest if you would return the way you came."

"Yeah, but all these people-"

Footsteps behind him drew his attention. Turning, Jake saw the female doctor. Then he saw the syringe coming towards him. Then he saw nothing.

"Thank you for your quick responses, Cylinde." said Anudjan.

The gynoid nodded, while hauling the man onto her shoulders without effort. "You are welcome, Anudjan." she said with a smile.

The lead android nodded, acknowledging the files she had him download, informing him the man was probably being rejected by Kirindi's Hive Mind and hence dangerous himself.

She carried him off and Anudjan went on his way.

He definitely had to say that despite all, the mission had gone remarkably successful. Considering everything that had gone wrong. It was a miracle they had made it, though Anudjan still failed to understand how they had managed to survive the swarm that had been released according to 921-Y.

Off course, there were always some unpleasant aftershocks to be dealt with afterward, be it by wounds, technological difficulties, or angry foster parents.

Having arrived at his destination, he pushed open the door of the maintenance hall and stepped in.

Before him was a massacre, android style. He sighed and quickly checked for any lasting damage by tuning into the function systems of his brothers and sister. Finding none, he turned to the center of the hall.

There, leaning back with his hands on a table, stood a light yellow yautja with brown stripes, slowly tapping his nails on the table board. Smudges of white blood were all over him, mainly on the gauntlet with the now subtracted wrist blades.

"Karga'te, was this all necessary?"

The yautja cocked his head and said sharply : "If you can see the use of me releasing my anger _before_ I reach your weapon arsenal, yes." His english was garbled, but still clear enough to transfer a venomous edge.

"I suppose we should be grateful you have not been making a habit out of this for the past time, at least."

"Maybe I will make a habit out of it."

Anudjan locked eyes with the yautja for a moment, running across his psychology identification system to be able to read the yautja, to no avail. Karga'te could either still be furious enough to give him a treatment with his wrist blades as well, or could have eased up enough to be reasoned with.

Why, of all things, did Kirindi need to choose a bad blood yautja as her father?

"If you will, Kirindi is waiting for you in the sick bay."

Karga'te snarled softly. "I know that. I just wonder a little why she is in the sick bay still. Normally she would have come to meet me."

Anudjan knew very well Karga'te had probably been informed by the child hybrid she'd been injured. Knowing Kirindi however, the yautja wouldn't know yet how bad it was. Not that the yautja couldn't guess.

Karga'te pushed off the table and nonchalantly walked towards Anudjan, bypassing him very closely. Anudjan looked down at various arms and legs that the yautja had cut off some androids and considered helping them, but it was better if he would lead Karga'te away first and let others take care of the injured. At least the yautja had shown enough restraint as not to damage anyone beyond repair.

_

* * *

_

Kirindi had to admit it, hiding something was definitely a curious experience. It felt so incredibly wrong. Telling Karga'te would be the right thing to do. But given what Odygos has told about his Mother, not telling would be another variant of doing the right thing.

So it was true after all, the right thing to do was relative, like Anudjan once had said.

The worst part was that it was so horribly easy to do, to not do. In the past, all she did was obey her Father. Though he seemed to know something else was amiss, other than her bit of treachery...

It made her sad as she thought that. She was a traitor after all.

That too had been easy. Karga'te had never explicitly forbidden her to go alone, he had only said that "_they_ would not go along, too dangerous". But now he knew, and he made her know she'd been wrong to interpret it that way.

"Kirindi, what's wrong?"

She looked up at the android who was currently peeling off a dead skin layer from her arm with great care. His eyes momentarily shifted to her face and Kirindi realized she'd been crying.

Something else bothered too. Her sister didn't care about all that worried Kirindi. She didn't care for Karga'te even though Kirindi had shown her all that he meant to her. He wasn't her sister's father yet.

"Just sad. Sister is so afraid here." she whispered. No lie, her sister was afraid of this place.

The android nodded, though she guessed he had no clue about anything. As he finished, he took a few bandages suited for her acidic blood and began applying them where ever her wounds were severe enough.

Kirindi sought mental contact with her sister, who was being given a similar treatment. With the minor difference off course that it involved ladders and mass improvision because no one had counted on such a large creature.

Her sister's mind was dull. Karga'te was coming and where as Kirindi had to suppress the urge to jump and and meet him, her sister couldn't care less. It confused her so much, her sister did care for her, then why not care for the things Kirindi cared for? All she did right now was fear the surrounding, which resembled the laboratory in many ways.

"Done." said the android.

Kirindi looked over her bandaged arms and legs and then back to her sister, who was still not even quarterway treated.  
"She'll be fine, do not worry. Go meet Karga'te."

The child chimera lingered, and found herself torn once again. It felt wrong too to leave her sister, especially since said sister was mentally clinging to her. That was something Kirindi could not share, that fear. Perhaps it was similar to the love her sister wouldn't share.

She figured it out, perhaps her sister wouldn't love Karga'te, but she'd try to understand. Kirindi herself tried to give that fear a place, didn't she? She couldn't understand that either.

"Kirindi, please go meet Karga'te before he does something rash again." said the android with urge in his voice now.

"Okay." she whispered, feeling only a little better. But for the moment, she got to meet Karga'te again, after the first time in her life that she'd been without him for real, out of the hive mind with him.

Without much further hesitation, she bolted out of the sick bay as well as her painful legs could carry her. Turning a few corners, she had no trouble at locating the yautja and immediately ran for him, answering his mental greeting with a loud shriek. Nearing him, she jumped up and twisted her arms and tail around him in a similar fashion as a facehugger.

"I'm home." she said, pushing her cheeck against his softly.

As much as Karga'te liked to act like an asshole, he couldn't quite get himself to be angry at her right now. Kirindi's mental touch was humble and almost as if saying sorry, though he knew regret was something she did not believe in. It was basically the gesture of soothing.

He never hugged her back, but he didn't push her away either like he had done years ago.

Kirindi loosened her grip a bit and climbed to sit on his shoulders.

"I noticed." said Karga'te, seeming a little annoyed. But in truth she knew he was happy to see her. Kirindi was excellent in filtering out any emotion that she didn't like and seeing only the nice ones. Twisting her tail around his torso for extra balance, she decided she'd stay here for a while.

"Kirindi..."

"Yes?

Maybe she would have promised she'd never do it again. Karga'te didn't quite care right now. What had happened had happened. Should she say sorry for wanting to find her sister and doing it against the rules? Regardless of whether he agreed with this situation, he was like that too.

He didn't ask her to say she was sorry, so she did not reply to his thoughts.

"...show the new kid." he said. "She's not quite open to me."

Anudjan walked ahead and opened the door to the sick bay, silently inquiring at the chimera's state. Karga'te with Kirindi on his shoulders followed him.

Upon entrance, he stood stock still and gazed ahead to the middle of the chamber.

When Kirindi spoke to him, she tended to relay emotions, opinions even, or simply silent being. Physical state rarely matter, like she had not told him how badly she was injured. She hadn't told him either how her sister looked, and it definitely was not the copy he had expected.

Anudjan, seeing Karga'te off balance, said :"Yes, she's quite large. I wonder how you intend to take care of her, Karga'te. Maybe you should take that job that the City Supervisor offered you, you'd get plenty of money...-"

The yautja snarled in reply and shoved the android aside. With Kirindi still on his shoulders, he walked up to the large chimera, who now raised her head slowly. The gynoid who'd been trying to mend a large gash on her skull tumbled off as she did so.

Karga'te halted before the skeletal face of the creature and looked at her closely, as if trying to find where the xenomorph ended and the human began. Kirindi slipped off his shoulders and went to stand at his side, as he reached forward and let his hand rest on the large head, at the same place Kirindi used to rub foreheads.

"And so you have come to Kyacumeni, Ti'chai-di."

_

* * *

_


	11. Yet unsettled thoughts

**Chapter 11 : Unsettling thoughts**

_December 15, 2577_

_Location : Planet Kyacumeni_

_

* * *

_

Odygos lingered in the trees. He had spotted a group of wonderful warrior creatures, but was held back by the fact that he was not in best physical shape. There were over fifteen of them, agile creatures with long tails and sharp, crescent shaped claws at the end of powerful legs and arms. He could not risk losing the Carrier while attempting to isolate one of them.

Ordering the pale critter to get off his back and hide in a nearby tree, the drone came into motion.

In the small valley before him, the group had just settled over a kill. It would have been more beneficent to him if they had still been hunting, when the group's mind was on something else, but he was rather in a hurry.

As quiet as possible Odygos made his way through the undergrowth. Having been frosted and then traveled on the outside of a hyperspace vehicle that warps space, a thing such as silence is not easy, considering internally fried muscle tissue. Odygos misplaced his right leg and came rolling down the slope of the hill, elegantly tearing along many branches in the extension on his back and his flaying limbs, only to slam against the ground in plain sight of the deinonychus.

Immediately, six curious, angular faces turned in his direction.

Odygos crawled up and waited for a response, staring back with the dome of his head.

The dinosaurs detected a possible foe, but lingered for a moment as they failed to detect any scent to indicate whether this thing was carnivore or herbivore. It had no scent known to them and there was no way to judge whether it was edible.

Remaining alert, one of the velociraptors stepped away from the recent kill to inspect this strange new thing. It didn't smell like anything alive at all, yet it moved and looked as such and hence was potential danger. Especially since it did not run from them.

The drone estimated his chances. A logical option would be to floor the closest creature, but he had no idea how the others would respond. They were the same size as him and though they were soft meat, they gave him the impression of having incredible strength. It was clear from the struggle and the freshness of the corpse they had hunted and killed their own food.

The deinonychus edged closer and hissed, raising its claws in a threatening manner. Odygos didn't respond to it, he simply waited.

Now, a few others stepped away from the meat as well, encircling the drone as they came forward. Their movement was estimated, they had stiff, long tails, perfect for running and charging but negative for sharp movements.

The drone raised himself just a little and started collecting acid spit in the back of his mouth. The dinosaurs edged around him, trying to get an idea of this thing...he spit at the closest, who moved it's head away. The acid missed the head and as such the brain, but instead landed in the dinosaur's back, burning itself a way through the spinal cord. At the cries of agony, the pack of deinonychus charged forward as a single creature, and Odygos could not response fast enough to keep from being tackled.

The problem that occurred right away wasn't in the lashing claws on the creature's toes, but rather on the immense weight with which they made him crash against the ground. An already cracked spot in his ribcage hit open on a rock and he shrieked out in irritation.

The deinonychus figured out quick enough their claws had no effect on the metallic layering of the drone, but they also noticed he was having trouble standing up. Two weights were down at him at the moment and the drone had trouble shaking them off. They exchanged a few quick chirps and then repositioned themselves. Odygos used the momentarily freedom to position himself up again, standing on all fours this time to retain solidity. Quickly he gathered more acid in the back of his mouth and aimed, but this time his target moved aside clearly.

The next moment, three of them sprang forward, two high into the air and one from the side. A fourth dodged for his tail. That one he managed to slash clear across the chest, but the one coming from his side rammed against him while the another landed on his back. The remaining one attempted to get a hold of his head, apparently they wanted to try and snap his neck. Odygos pushed forward, grabbed the nearest dino-limb and dug his tongue into it, ripping the bones in it apart with ease. Unfortunately said limb was an arm, and did not vitally cripple the dinosaurs; instead it only took off.

The weight still put a remarkable restraint on him though. Had he been at full strength, the dinosaurs would have been dead meat, but like this...he attempted to twist on his own ax and tried to grab another limb, but these creatures seemed to learn rather quickly. In a spur of the moment, Odygos threw himself aside. Instinctively, the nearest two lashed at his stomach, recalling the weak spot of the ankylosaurs, only to find an equally hard shell and their heads locked between the iron legs and arms of the drone. A quick lash of the tongue and gathering spit put an end to the two attackers.

However, it was that moment that Odygos had the first sense of ridicule in his life : the combined weight of himself and the two struggling attackers had pushed him into the forest floor, the four extensions on his back in between a set of branches and preventing him from rolling back up.

And there was still something clinging to his tail. He lashed out and the remaining deinonychus stumbled back.

For a moment, the dinosaur looked at the biomechanoid, then it took off.

Odygos found himself with three dead bodies, as the last deinonyechos fled.

No host obtained, and he was stuck in the ground so he couldn't get up quick enough to pursue them.

Once he had struggled free, now sporting an even more interesting array of leaves and branches on himself, Odygos called the Carrier to himself.

Perhaps he'd have to settle for an easier host.

Or perhaps, he heard a little memory in the back of his mind, telling him of that messenger to come...his Mother never lied, he was sure and if the information was correct, as it off course was, he quickly figured out what to do.

Standing up, we walked towards the corpse of the drone with the burned spine and lifted its head. On command, the Carrier attached itself as well as the long snout of the deinonychus would allow.

_

* * *

_

"We'll come for you later." said the android as he closed the door.

"See, not a prison room!"

Jake shook his head at Shadhahvar. "No, not a cell, but he still locked the door." His head slumped into his hands and he leaned forward.

"You look like shit, Jake." remarked Shadhahvar.

"I don't know what they sprayed in me, but it probably doesn't work well with your drink, girl."

"Yeah, you're going kinda blueish. Hey, look at the pretty view! Did you know we're like, hundreds of feet above the ground?"

A barfing sound was behind her, as Jake curled forward and vomited.

"Ew, Jake."

"Please don't joke about heights, okay? I thought you were serious for a moment."

"I am serious, why else can I see sky there?"

Looking up, he turned his head into her direction. Indeed, the windows that made up half of the circular chamber's upper wall showed a line of sky not too far away. It seemed to be that they were in the end of some gigantic cave. Not just huge, but tremendously large. Both up and down of the sky in the distance was red-brown rock, kilometers wide and supported by broad, high pillars.

"How large you think this place is?"

Jake didn't dare guessing, he seriously doubted his eyes. In his sitting position, he couldn't quite see past the lower ridge of the windows and make an estimation of the immediate downfall of their position, but judging from the distance of the jungle...he had looked out of the window of the Pegarus once, and remembered seeing a peculiar green dot in a dark green field. Darn it, if that had been the plateau 921-Y said they were heading towards...

"Jake...someone is here."

His chain of thoughts was interrupted as Shadhahvar suddenly spun around and pressed her back against the window. Turning in his seat, Jake sought what had disturbed her, but saw nothing.

"There was a ghost!" she said, pointing at something Jake couldn't distinguish.

"Nah, nothing there, Shadey."

"I saw it when it moved, in the reflection!"

"Nonsense, there is-"

"Actually her eyes are quite sharp." said a throaty, animal like voice from behind them.

Amazingly, Shadhahvar did not scream out loud as the air started shivering and showing blue sparks, to have a creature that Jake knew only as a Hunter appear.

Immediately he tensed up and braced against the ground. He had heard the stories, but he noticed something was different about this one. It wasn't wearing anything that looked like the armor on the photos he had seen, instead it seemed to be made out of some organic looking black stuff...like that of an I. Raptus drone.

Forgetting his nausea, Jake slowly stood up, his mind racing over all possible options of action. The monster before him was probably here to hunt, ...but what was it doing with them, revealing itself and drawing no weapons.

"Shit, they took my knives." he heard Shadhahvar say behind him. Jake recalled the Auton doing that and was glad for it, provoking this thing would probably end in a blood bad. It was probably testing them for something or-

The hunter rolled his eyes in an eerily human way. It left Jake a little unbalanced, but not half as much as the next action. The yautja spoke up in a very garbled english.

"How long do you plan on standing there with that fish mouth half open?"

On reflex he closed his lips. The yautja chuckled, and much to both the humans' surprise, he walked to the nearest window and leaned against the bit of wall between that and the next.

"Who exactly are you?" said the animal-like voice.

"It came to make chit-chat?" Shadhahvar had spoken Jake's thoughts.

"If you want to put it that way." said the yautja, seeming mildly bemused.

"Uhm...I'm Jake, that's Shadhahvar, and you are?"

Cocking his head, the yautja said : "Take a guess."

Something dawned on Jake. He hadn't thought about it before, but both 'Kirindi' and 'Kargaate' were not normal human names. So far, all androids had had names traceable in human origins.

"You're not here to hunt anything, are you?"

The yautja chuckled again. "I hunt for food only. Is there anything in this compound I could eat?"

Shadhahvar couldn't refrain from saying with a shivering voice : "Us?"

"Hm...no, I tasted humans once. Rather vile actually."

"You're a badblood?" said Jake, his anxiety increasing.

"Ha. Where does a ooman get the words to say criminal in my understandings?"

"Oh, we had files on that stuff back at my base, lots of them. Stolen them from governments and so, you know." Shadhahvar seemed visible more relaxed as Jake stole a glance at her. She perceived no imminent danger, but if what the Auton had said about this yautja, if he indeed was Kirindi's adoptive father, they should be very alert. The strange anger he had felt prior to being tranquilized seemed to bubble up again, but he didn't have the energy to do anything with it.

The yautja seemed to notice the small change in Jake's body though, seeing his heat rise a little and the muscles tense in a different way. But he made no comment of it, and focused on Shadhahvar.

"My question still stands. _Who are you_?"

"We're mercenary, really good ones. That's why those creeps wanted us for hosts on that secret station." Shadhahvar said, almost proudly. Not noticing the somewhat disdainful look the yautja gave her, she continued : "We have a secret base ourselves, but we help people only, you know. I know this guy who fought one of your kind once and he won! And he...hey, how comes you can speak our language? That other hunter thing couldn't." For once, Shahdhavar actually perceived a detail on the world around her.

With yet another human gesture, a shrug, the yautja said shortly :"That's an obnoxiously long story. Let's just say my sister once had a few human slaves that tended to get into my trouble and I into theirs."

Jake noticed the creature was giving an effort to make them feel comfortable, including many human gestures. Though, the somewhat dismissive tone in his voice when he spoke of the humans was obvious.

"Why are you here, Karga'te?" Jake asked.

"You guessed who I am. Took you long enough." stated the yautja. He paused for a while, staring intensely at Jake. Shadhahvar lingered in the background, and feeling somewhat ignored, she went to a nearby balcony with a pouted mouth.

"I want to know why Kirindi rejects you from the Hive Mind." The voice now was no more than barked words, hardly understandable. The brows of the creature furrowed a little, his gaze hardening. "I heard the doctor. What are you and 921-Y hiding?"

When Jake gave no reply, Karga'te continued :"The sisters may subject to me, but their minds are stronger than mine, I cannot force them to let me see if they hide something. But, I might be able to force you." A thinly veiled threat that only served to increase Jake's ideas about how well this thing served as a father to the chimeras.

"They are Hard Meat. I will have to kill them if their nature shows through. The androids know that and they have influence on her, that I've seen. Someone might have persuaded them it was in the best interest to lie."

Jake's face hardened and he glared at the yautja. "How likely do you think it that I will just reply, given that there indeed is a secret? Maybe she rejected me because I am not worthy."

A sharp thrill sounded up, arising as the yautja clattered his mandibles in high speed. "Kirindi is willing to love everyone who is nice to her. She doesn't have rules about worthiness and honor and crap like that. No, she rejects you because if she let you in, I could get in your mind as well and for some reason she doesn't want that." Crossing his arms across his chest, Karga'te waited for a reply.

Jake turned his eyes to his feet and said :"You don't hunt anymore, you say. You are violent against the 'unliving' androids. Oh yes, I've seen your work, they led me past that room on our way here. A hunter, having raised a cross of the two main prey species. I don't think you'll harm me that much just to find out."

The somewhat amused expression faded from the yautja's face. "Not that much? Maybe not much in _my_ perspective."

"Yes, your perspective. That's all that counts, right? Kirindi wanted her sister but you didn't feel like taking a risk. Are you bad blood because you are a coward?"

Jake was used to being uncertain of his direct future. As a bad blood, Karga'te would have no restrictions in killing him. Did Kirindi care at all whether he lived? A silence fell, and Jake got the eerie idea he was about to be skinned.

"Jake, there are dinosaurs here, right? Do dinosaurs have more than two big glowing red eyes or is that normal?" came Shadhahvar's voice.

Jake looked up in annoyance. "Shadey, please don't begin that stuff." he said in a tired voice. The clattering of mandibles was heard, accompanied by a mock chuckle.

Suddenly, the yautja stepped forward and grabbed Jake at his arm, hauling him out of the chair and dragging him to the balcony. There he pushed him forward, forcing him to look down. Jake felt his feet lose contact to the ground a little, but that was no what worried him.

Several feet him a gigantic creature was with eight red eyes glowing in the light of nearby lamps. It also had gigantic jaws, aimed up as it curiously raised it to catch some more of the food Shadhahvar had been throwing down previously.

"Even when a world lies under your stupid nose, you don't see it. I did not want to go for Kirindi's sister because that would bring us into the human world, and it would go on and on. Ti'chai-di is Kirindi's sister, but she seethes and hates like the human who she bonded to. And now, the androids will continue to involve us in their affairs."

Jake braced against the railing, but the yautja was far stronger than him, keeping him in his unbalanced position with a single hand.

"Hey, let him go!" Shadhahvar jerked at the Karga'te's arm, to no effect.

Jake felt his heart race, but he tried to keep his senses. Imminent death wasn't a new situation for him, but he got the feeling Karga'te wasn't entirely un-adept in mental powers either.

As if on cue, the yautja let him go, almost confirming that he indeed did know Jake's surface thoughts. Quickly the human pushed himself off the railing and stumbled back against a half open door, knocking his head in the process.

Jake felt his stomach hurl, but as he had already emptied its content not much more came out of his mouth than a little spit. The taste of stomach acid intensified though.

Karga'te cast a hard gaze on the human, but not one of resentment.

When Jake looked up again, he saw a strange sort of hovercraft in the high distance, passing by and eventually landing on a platform. Lowering his gaze, he now spotted various lights on the 'floor' of the immense area, coming from what seemed small canyons at first sight. In between the broad collumns, a city lay with endless movement, hidden between the sand. Various small ships now could be made out, making their way though and across the canyon lanes.

"What is this?" he asked, amazement clear over his expression.

"It is a market."

Out of nowhere, the greyed man Jake had met earlier appeared, joined the small group on the balcony. Looking down for a moment, he beheld the hungry mouth of the koort some thirty meters below and smiled.

"I hope you haven not fed them any meat, miss Mary Sue?" he asked softly.

"Only that candy stuff you people gave me. How'd you know I was-" The man pointed at a lamp in the small waiting chamber. "We keep an eye on our entire compound." he said simply.

Jake flinched, immediately rerunning his conversation with the yautja and checking whether he might have said anything that gave Odygos away. But if so, Karga'te would have known as well.

With a sigh, Anudjan turned to Karga'te, who was again leaning against the balustrade with his arms crossed, obviously annoyed by the android's arrival.

"I have been looking for you. I just received a message for the city supervisor, he said the task of Order Maintainer has already been filled. I believe we need to pay him a visit, perhaps he shall change his mind." Karga'te only growled in reply, but moved to follow anyway.

As the yautja cleared away, Jake grabbed the Auton's arm, a bewildered look on his face. "I want to know what's going on. What is this all?" His arm made vague motions towards the kilometers of lights between the collumns.

Anudjan followed his eyes and then calmly pulled Jake's hand loose. "As I said, it is a market."

For a moment, Jake looked desperate, believing that once more he'd be left with a half answer. He was approaching the edge of his nerve's endurance.

"An intergalactic market. Humans and yautja are not the only sentients in this galaxy, of which you know so little. Many gather here to exchange goods in peace. Some even come from other galaxies. We were only allowed to settle here because we have access to human mainstreams and can tell them whether there will be plans for any human activity. We are why this planet has not been modified yet, we blocked donations, sabotaged any effort until wildlife was so far out of control humans gave up. It allows a place such as this to exist for the more docile civilizations in this star system." Anudjan stated this all rather matter-of factly, though he had a certain sense of pride in his eyes, programmed off course.

"We're not the only ones..." Jake said, his eyes shifting for a moment to the yautja who stood impatiently near the exit door.

Anudjan's face grew a little more grave. "You know about the bombs, do you? We do not plant them on the stations because we hope to save mankind from their mistakes. We are afraid they will succeed and come to claim what they have not destroyed yet." said the android as he looked out over the immense area. Then, he turned around and left with Karga'te.

"Wow. That so totally changed my world-view thing." said Shadhahvar happily. Jake walked inside and slumped on a chair, trying to give another piece of new information, incredibly huge new information a place in his already tired mind.

_

* * *

_

The Auton shuttle smoothly crossed the sand city, though very slowly. Karga'te grew agitated soon, but Kirindi enjoyed the ride greatly. She had never been allowed in the city's perimeters and there were plenty of things to see below. Curious as a child she pressed her face against the window to see as much as possible.

The market, despite being formed by technologically advanced species, was very simple. Little more than a few domes build of sand were visible on the surface in the wide scape around, but when looking directly down, one could see the many broad lanes between the canyons everywhere. In them lights shone, and many creatures meandered the streets, looking for a bargain.

She had off course always known of the many lifeforms here, but had had little guess to their appearance. Variety was a key word even when she had only see a few lanes. Aside her, her giant sister tried to get a look as well, but her eyes were unclear. Kirindi offered her her own view, and Ti'chai-di effortlessly locked into Kirindi's senses, and vica versa.

A small pop was heard as Ti'chai-di pushed her head against the glass too far, caused it it break. The chimera's face immediately went through by air pressure and ended up stuck.

Karga'te released a heavy sigh. Anudjan, standing up to look back, said :"Oh my! Karga'te, shouldn't you help her?"

The yautja seemed more interested however in battling the seat which was way too small for him. "She's perfectly fine. She wanted to look out, and she's looking out. Trust me, she's happy." It was true, the queen chimera couldn't care less her head was stuck. Right now she liked this position because it allowed her to see better and smell more.

Anudjan however worried about the unbalance this was causing the shuttle. They had had to remove the natural ballast system to allow the chimera on, and many chairs as well. Ti'chai-di had went out of the android's quarters and could not be willed in again, so they had been forced to take her along. Mostly because Karga'te couldn't be bothered to tell Kirindi to stay back as well after she made a sad face.

As expected, the landing into the central collumn's hangar was all but smoothly. The shuttle skirted to a halt after a twenty meter slide on one of the mega-catwalks and knocked a few workers off another ship in the process.

Karga'te kicked the door open, stumbled out and wearily turned to look at the shuttle. The hind hatch opened up and the queen chimera wrestled her way out, her blood having melted away the window keeping her trapped. One could say the look on Karga'te face was an interesting mixture of despair and confusion at his current state of existence. He just about began to realize what he was stuck with.

Off course, as soon as Ti'chai-di had separated herself from the shuttle and came into clear view, promptly all creatures in the hangar unanimously decided it was a good time to burst into mass panic. While a wild variety of creatures fled for their un-threatened lives, Karga'te shot Anudjan a murderous glare.

"This is _not_ going to work." snarled the yautja.

"I assure you, Karga'te, all we need to do it a little negotiation and explain she's harmless. Once the Supervisor understands her use-" said the android cozily.

"Then you could perhaps also enlighten me on what that use would be, seeing as I have absolutely no control over her actions."

"That is what _you_ have to negotiate about, with her. I am sure you can figure out a way to influence her actions." said Anudjan, waving his hand vaguely at Ti'chai-di, who stood somewhat lost aside of the shuttle. Right about then, Kirindi saw something of mayor interest and ran towards it with a squeal. Her big sister happily bounced after her, making the floor tremble slightly.

"There might be other problems aside of my lack of control." said the yautja, bracing himself against the shuttle door. The dock they were on was one of metal in a five-layer hangar. Hence, it was a sweet little earthquake coming from the sister's jolliness.

Kirindi tried to peel open the pod with the sentient mutant rynth without much success and then simply asked her sister to do it. The creature inside screamed bloody murder, calling for help, but Karga'te didn't respond to Anudjan's prompting to help the creature.

"It'll be fine, they won't kill it." he simply said, before taking in his surroundings. He'd been here once, a very long time ago, and didn't remember anymore what way it was to the Supervisor's office. Mainly because he had paid his visit then by use of the outer wall and window.

"Lead the way."

The two went through various cleanly chaffed sand and rock halls, up a few elevators and stairs, and then some more halls. Anudjan logged into the city's cyberspace and contacted the secretary/guard of the Supervisor that he was coming up and the yautja was with him, and that it would be preferred if no one would take action against the weird pale things down in the hangar, as they were harmless when left alone.

When he turned to ask Karga'te to please behave himself, he found the yautja to be gone. One of the nearby holo-screens was on, displaying a picture of the Supervisor. Karga'te was one of those yautja who had biologically completely active eyes, allowing him to see colors and right now, Anudjan wished he had connected that to the fact the yautja would probably also know computers and how to ask for a map to the nearest window.

- - - -

Karga'te had a long standing habit of not walking through any doors that belonged to anything that were things he might have eaten in another situation. One such thing included the city's Supervisor, a long, beige-green worm-like creature with a single eye on each end.

It was about one meter long and wiggled rather amusingly as he held it out of the window.

"-What do you mean, I can't have the job?-" he said telepathically.

The worm-alien, a telepath by nature emotionally pleaded to be let back into the room, as it was quite a drop down, while mentally saying :"-The position's been filled, we already have a-"

"-Oh indeed. Yes. From the telepathic messages Kirindi is sending me right now, your little squad of yutadrons is quite decent. But as I am sure you are perceiving much clearer than me even, they're quite not a match for my newest family member. You know what, they can be my subordinates, and you just pay me more than them.-" As he said so, he showed the worm the images Kirindi send him, of the current struggle down in the hangar. Apparently, some had not taken Anudjan's explanation of the situation very serious and were attempting to remove the chimeras.

"-Would you like me to make them stop?-"

At that moment, the door to the office opened, and Anudjan stepped in.

"Karga'te, is that necesarry?" he asked calmly.

"For my frustrated ego, yes."

"You seem quite eager to threaten people to fall down, I don't like that."

Karga'te shrugged.

The Supervisor send a telepathic message to his secretary, who at that moment quickly climbed from the desk in the center of the room, a worm like himself but smaller and what appeared mechanical implants to Karga'te. It translated the Supervisor's telepathy to the android in english.

"The Respected Supervisor Hguthreeit would very much prefer that hostilities are ceased at once and to have an explanation handed out."

Anudjan gave an apologetic smile. "I am so sorry for all this, I assure you this was not intended as a hostile move. I merely wanted to help Karga'te apply for the position as Order Maintainer."

"He doesn't quite seem to encourage a safe environment." said the secretary.

Anudjan shook his head. "The chimeras down there, they are harmless, they are children by mind and they obey Karga'te, and once Karga'te settles he will be more calm and-"

"According to the yautja himself, he is not yet in control of the larger one. She arrived mere hours ago from one of your ridiculous missions against the human species." objected the secretary.

Anudjan opened his mouth, but Karga'te at the same moment tossed the Supervisor. Leaning forward, he watched the worm tumble down many meters, before turning to enjoy the stunned face of the android.

"I wasn't _just threatening_ to throw people down. I was quite intend on doing it for real." he said with clattering mandibles.

"You murdered him!" Anudjan's previously controlled and reserved mentality broke into anger. But as he wasn't programmed to express anger, his face remained looking like a fish, with his mouth hanging wide open like Jake's before. Inside his head, two rivaling settings battled for control : tactic versus emotional outlet. However, before either could find out who was dominant, the secretary shifted, and crawled back to her hidden spot in the large desk thing in the middle of the room.

Pointing one eye at the yautja and one at the android, it said :"A trial period would perhaps be best. We understand your problem with finding a proper residence for the one named Ti'chai-di. In collumn utrhtid-uouoo there is an empty hangar, she may be stored there. If Karga'te can prove sufficient control _and_ functionality, we will gladly reconsider the offer. We thank you for you attempts, however failed, at restraining the idiot and we would like Karga'te to know the Supervisor has calculated his fall and knows you throw him into manure deposit on intention, rather than the cleansing tank a normal fall would have led him. There will be a worthy pay-back." The worm secretary then flinched a few scales on its back, their form of laughter, before disappearing.

"Well, that was...somewhat positive." said Anudjan, feeling inappropriate relieved because his programming settled again, rather than happiness that the Supervisor still lived. "Just a few minutes, and you already made new enemies."

Karga'te shrugged it off. "This is not what I call an enemy. I'm curious what the worm will come up with, he has more guts than slime." With those words, he climbed into the window, and went out the way he had come in.

Anudjan promised himself he'd treat himself on a nice bit of system clean-up once he got back to the base...after restoring the mess Karga'te had made there.

_

* * *

_

Kirindi looked around the empty hangar to where they'd been relocated. Her head hurt considerably, as she'd been forced to practice a lot of mental influence over the guards that had been send to restrain her and her sister. In any case, she was thankful that Hguthreeit had not told Anudjan how exactly she had been managing against their attackers; she knew very well how the androids thought over her "hive-mind". For as far as they knew, she had to elect people and introduce them to it, but in truth she could practice it any all who had a brain. Ti'chai-di herself had less of a talent like that, she lacked the concentration to continue control. No, the large chimera simply shouted what she wanted, and paid no heed to whether the message arrived and was comprehended. But she did have a wonderful amount of "memory space", so to say, Kirindi had promised her she'd teach her how to use it.

All they wanted now was rest. Before, she and Karga'te used to sleep in the rainforest in self-made nests in the trees, but with her sister this was no option. She was still too weak to even run properly, let alone climb trees or fend off against carnivores and the like. No leaf-bed today, but that didn't matter at all. She had her sister and was a bit more whole.

The gate opened for a second, and to her surprise, she sensed alongside of Karga'te Jake and Shadhahvar as well. They weren't visible yet since the sisters had crawled up high in a shadowy corner, but their minds stood out clear now they were near.

"Woah, this is very...empty and cold. Gotta complement that supervisor guy on his choices." said Jake, the echo carrying a little. He looked around the hangar, which was just a little smaller than the one in the main collumn, but no longer in use as its owner had moved to another galaxy. Now, it was used for storing various techno-bits that might yet be recycled.

"Idiot. Half the city heard by now there is a demon queen and they're are ready to kill her. They can't get in here and it's got space. That's all that matters." snarled Karga'te, already annoyed with his guests.

"Good thing we got sleeping bags." said Shadhahvar, way to happy for the gloomy place they were in.

Kirindi straightened up a little and listened, curious to why they were here, but no more words were exchanged and she couldn't tap into Jake's mind, knowing Karga'te could see in him that way. So, she simply waited for her father to come up and tell her.

Down below, the two humans tried to find a warm spot to sleep, and the sisters could also hear the yautja climb up. Soon, Karga'te appeared in their sound-view. Right now it was completely dark and as the sisters had no heat signal either, he walked in total blindness towards them, sensing them only.

Almost he tripped over Ti'chai-di's tail that was curled forward on the ground. After that, he grumpily took out a flashlight, hating to rely on it. He aimed it at the sisters and stared at them for a moment. Kirindi sat under Ti'chai-di's high neck, her dolls scattered about her. Two sets of pitch-black eyes stared at him intently and he believed to see a ghost smile on Ti'chai-di's face, mirroring the one of Kirindi.

Her dolls were scattered across the place and he spotted a few new additions. Jake and Shadhahvar, and Ti'chai-di as well. There was one thing he did not know though. Curiously, he stepped forward and picked the black doll up : it was appeared to be a Hard Meat drone.

Curiously he looked at the sisters. "Why?" he asked simply.

"Many of them. In pain there, at the station. Some were different. Like Ti'chai-di. I remember them."

Quite honestly, such could mean a thousand things.

Karga'te tossed the doll to Kirindi. "Jake and Shadhahvar is here because the androids were curious. Their psych-test showed they are hiding information. I gave Jake a choice, he could stay with us and manage that idiotic stuff called money once we get it, or stay with them. Apparently he finds me less a threat than them finding out whatever he is hiding. Kirindi, are you lying?"

Her expression grew sad, while that of her sister returned to being stoic. "I don't lie to you." He could feel her sincerity behind it, but knew the hardmeat blood in her so well that he would not completely judge the truth on that, and Ti'chai-di was still cold towards him, in her mind he didn't want to venture yet.

Kirindi still held the little doll when he came over.

"Move aside."

She moved a few decimeter, and Karga'te settled against the side of Ti'chai-di's, half under her neck. For a moment there was a sense of danger as he came so close to the queen chimera, but it soon faded and only Kirindi's little but so wide mind remained. Karga'te turned off the flashlight and breathed in deep. The scent of hardmeat was so much more powerful with Ti'chai-di than with only Kirindi, but he'd grown used to that smell a long time ago. Never entirely safe, but still what one would call part of home in other settings.

Kirindi came close to his side and curled her small arms around his large left arm. He felt her cheeck against his skin and unwillingly remembered certain other hybrids in his past. Pushing those thoughts away, he settled on the present.

Whatever they were hiding, he'd find it out. Secrets never remained hidden for him, he had made it his job to find it out. He had reasons now to assume the current secret involved hardmeat drones, pureblood. He couldn't phantom though in what possible way.

For the moment though, it was sufficient to dream. He mentally prepared for a nightmare, as he knew that Ti'chai-di would join the shared dreams of him and Kirindi from now on, and he had sensed before that she carried an awful lot of pain. It'd pass though, in time. Kirindi's pain of birth has passed as well.

In a long time.

_

* * *

_

A/N : I would like to point out that the creatures Odygos encounters are not the basic deinonychus, they are the "velociraptors" things of Jurassic Park, who seem to be getting smarter each and every movie for some reason. I call them deinonychus because these are the creatures the "velociraptors" of Jurassic Park were modelled after. Real velociraptors are barely not even two meters long, so I call them deinonychus instead.


	12. Promised

**Chapter 12 : Promised**

_December 16, 2577_

_Location : Planet Kyacumeni_

_

* * *

_

Kirindi opened her eyes and curiously stared into the darkness. Something had woken her and it turned out to be Shadhahvar, crossing a nearby catwalk with a light in her hands. How the woman had ended up so high in the cropped full storage bay was a riddle, especially since it was dark. Even for Shadhahvar, it would seem, as she seemed to be looking for a way down.

She considered going back to sleep. Karga'te was still in the dreamworld of Ti'chai-di, he wouldn't like it that she'd left. In fact, he hadn't liked it at all. They'd chased across misted swamps and through fluid halls and iced halls, chasing shadows of those hated.

Shadhahvar moved away from their current sleeping place and Kirindi went to join Karga'te once more. As before, he was trying to reach a certain spot in Ti'chai-di's mind that she kept hidden, but it was far from Odygos...this was a secret Kirindi didn't know either and it was on Terra Mirror. Ti'chai-di had been born there and she refused to even let her little sister know the details.

But she did wonder though. One thing she had understood, Jonah had not been the first Ti'chai-di had bonded to. It was curious.

The secret's shadow faded into the mist again and Karga'te slumped down on a rock in the twisted variant of Terra Mirror's landscape. He was breathing heavily, feeling confused on his own and the emotion of Ti'chai-di in her despair seeped into him. He was hunting a secret all over again, be it a different version than when he had retrieved Kirindi's egg.

Unlike Kirindi's simple mind, Ti'chai-di had a great range of emotions that occasionally came crashing down in waves. Kirindi seemed strangely immune to the psychological effect of it, but to Karga'te it was heavy.

The child chimera now stood in the murky waters, neither sinking nor floating. Aside of numbing cold, the place did not hold much sensation. Bubbles came up from underneath her feet, at which she intensely stared.

The yautja turned his yellow eyes to her and said :"You were gone for a while, where did you go?"

"I woke."

"Is it morning yet?"

She shook her head. "I do not know. Shadhahvar was on one of the catwalks."

Karga'te clattered his mandibles. "I bet that drunk brat doesn't sleep at all. Lucky idiot." Pushing himself up, he got ready to chase the Terra Mirror secret once more, but at that point something caught their attention from the outside world. Ti'chai-di appeared from the mists and joined the two of them. For a few seconds they waited. And waited. Seconds in Ti'chai-di's dreamscape could last hours.

Once they got out of the warped time, reality kicked right into Karga'te with a headache and pain in the back from sleeping so tensed up. He groaned as he got up, Kirindi following his motion almost simultaneously. Ti'chai-di stayed put however for a moment, listening intently.

"Karga'te, sister says the androids are here. They come for Jake." said Kirindi, responding to Ti'chai-di's advanced echo vision.

The yautja uttered a threatening growl. "Blasted machines." He set off and jumped of their current platform to a lower one, from there on gliding down a pipe to the first floor platform. Kirindi stayed with her sister though, as she needed to help her find herself a safe way down.

It turned out to be correct : the androids had indeed arrived and now waited for Shadhahvar to be found. The same gynoid that had met them they day before held Jake in his place, who apparently had already made a few attempts to break loose from the not so weak grip of the robot.

Karga'te jumped down to the floor and drew the attention of the Auton with a short bark. "That's my human." he stated briefly while approaching Persephone to grab her in her neck and pull her off Jake's arm. He then tossed her a few meters on.

Anudjan was not present, in his stead came a rather clean-cut looking android with a sharp face and a matching voice. "We are taking these two humans to continue the psychological investigation. They may be returned to you if the matrix deems such safe. We have reason to believe-"

He was cut short by Karga'te grabbing the nearest object and hurling it at his head. Tach-87 dodged easily though.

"Update for you, machine : I took these weaklings in. You got a whole cargo of soft meat to play with from what I've seen, so you're not getting mine." snarled the yautja.

The android gave no visible emotive response, but Persephone stepped closer again and said :"Have you even noticed that Kirindi's rejects-" Her too he interupted.

"Them from the Hive Mind. Got it already. My chimeras, my business and all which that implies. However, right now, I am heading somewhere, so you'll have to wait to learn what exactly that means." With that, he grabbed Jake's shoulder and began dragging him into the direction of the exit.

Out of the shadows appeared Kirindi and Ti'chai-di, Shadhahvar perched on the latter's broad back and looking thoroughly amused.

"Wait, you cannot go outside. There have been votes to kill Ti'chai-di already out of fear for a plague." said Tach-87, a hint of frustration in his tone.

The yautja didn't listen, nor did he give Jake a chance to get his feet properly under himself. Kirindi silently spoke to her sister, and convinced her of the need to leave now.

"Karga'te! 921-Y is lying about something, we discovered that much. The moment we prepared to hack into him, his destroyed his memory banks. These humans are the only ones that can tell us now, unless Kirindi will talk and-"

Karga'te stopped stock-still and turned. "You _will_ keep your filthy needles and machines off them." he growled, all the while glaring in a way that promised he'd be very creative in ensuring that. With that, he turned and pushed Jake in Ti'chai-di's direction. "Get your female off of Ti'chai-di and get aboard of that ship." he said to the human while pointing to the very craft with which the androids had arrived.

The androids moved to stop them, but Tach-87 digitally told them to stop. "It is better if they go inside one of our crafts than by foot, saver. Karga'te knows that."

Ti'chai-di wrestled her way into the craft with a lot of pushing and yelping as she got stuck once more, but she managed. Karga'te went inside and went directly to disconnect the opening to the android's matrix, so that the craft could not be taken over.

Kirindi entered last, waving bye to the androids with a sweet smile before leaped in the direction of the pilot's cabin. With that began a, for her at least, fun game of avoiding androids and keeping their secret. Karga'te would doubtlessly try to get information out of Jake and Shadhahvar, but she knew he had more patience and was, despite all less harsh than the Auton. She took it as a promise that he'd be on her side.

_

* * *

_  
Kirindi, had she been keeping a written diary, would have described it as the days of status refinement, in reference to a phrase she once heard that related to updating a falty system with limited resources. 

Karga'te told her that step one was to get control of Ti'chai-di, he urged her to make her understand it was important to her immediate survival that she would obey his command. Such was not easy.

Step two was making the immediate surrounding less suspicious to them. This was even harder. Neither goal would be reached any time soon, so she hoped that City Supervisor would be lenient, he did after all have enough a sense of humor.

Right now, for the first time since her return, she was able to go out alone. There were some plants Karga'te needed, as during a hunt to obtain food for Ti'chai-di he had gotten wounded. And slightly delirious as well, since the critter he had hunted was poisonous to yautja. He seemed perfectly happy though, almost giddy, so she didn't mind taking a little longer; there was someone she needed to meet, though she was sad that she could not take Ti'chai-di along with her.

After such a long time in the crowded city, the cool rainforest seemed almost a new experience all over again, but she knew it by mind and paid little attention to it. The mapped area in her mind, she followed a clear trail through the trees, leading to a lake miles away from the city.

It was surrounded by a cliff on one side, the roots of half-water trees on the other end. Without hesitation, she ran onward and dived off the cliff. Her hands came close to her body and her spikes folded down right before she hit the water with a loud splash. Any normal human would have been knocked out by the impact, but a human she was not : the hard skeleton hidden right under her white skin gave her a pretty solid resistance.

She shot further down under water; when the momentum of gravity's pull slowed down she began swinging her tail, moving through the water like a snake. Daylight faded swiftly as she reached the bottom, leaving on a distant blue haze above. She was in darkness and needed to go on feeling alone. Her echo worked odd down here in the deep lake and her telepathic sense needed a little adapting to the wet environment.

There was a cave there, just a small opening of a few meters wide, hidden by a grouping of dark-water plants. She wrestled her way through it and took the long swim into the caves. Oxygen she did not need, like the two drones who had taken the same way before her had not needed it either.

As she drew closer, the powerful telepathic aura of the two drones became intenser. They pulled at her, they were far more powerful than the average drone. Odygos had been calling for her for a long time now, but the other only joined now. He was a bit calmer than the former and she found his calling to be just as beautiful. It formed a serene backtone to the high calls of the smaller drone.

Odygos, she now realized, was a bit nuts. He had been forced to grow up in rapid speed as to aid them on Enigma II, but the new drone had taken proper time to develop. He was clearer, calmer and did not have the touch of chaos that his brother sported. Due to the sharp contrast between the two, she noticed now. A gentle smile appeared on her face; a mere reaction of the human side of her instincts and entirely meaningless to symbolize the growing euphoria she felt as for the first time in her life, she entered a perfect, flawless hive mind.

They drew her in with strength, the presence of Karga'te and Ti'chai-di decreasing to a distant knowledge, not important to the present. There was the hive, only the hive and they called her in, the wanted her to join.

The beat of her tail increased, she sped onward through the underwater maze. A strange scent, a feeling increased on her skin, and she began to see something on the walls. No longer rocks, save for a few places; the two drones had worked hard on producing a useful hive environment. Nutrision was abound as they had created a wall made entirely out of it, using "dark matter" from the world to create a web that filtered the water for what they needed. A soft glow eminated from various bubbles within the texture, filling the underwater realm with an eerily beautiful light.

Reaching out, the tips of her fingers brushed the texture and in her mind an image began to form of the complexity of the entire hive-palace. It amazed her and she opened her mouth to screech. A pathethic tremor waved through the water, but they heared her. The hive texture carried their vocal answer to her, so much more powerful.

It did not take much longer before she could see two swimming shapes approach her, vaguely visible in the dim light and sharply contrasting with the world around in their hived mind.

The familiar black form of Odygos came side by side with his younger brother. One would not say such on appearance though, as the new warrior was much larger, and seemed...pointier.

Born from a deinonychus, the DNA Reflex had not only adopted feathers, but enhanced them into blades such as sprouted from the warrior's arms and replaced the tubes on its back. He was sleek yet incredibly powerful, she could feel it. Odygos was a messenger, a guide, this new drone was the fighter.

They drifted to a halt and the three met in an intersection of caveways. The new drone circled her, Kirindi found curiosity clear in his investigative mental probing. Reaching out she let her fingers trail over his exoskeleton, tracing the ridges and ribs feather lightly and feeling its texture. The warrior let it happen, incapable to perform such a touch himself and not caring to either.

He had been given an assignment clearly, he was to protect this creature, Kirindi. His mother herself had called out to the face-hugger and imprinted it into his very DNA by her superior Calling. Now she was here, after a long time. Patience was an irrelevant word for a creature such as him, for he knew no anxiety or any other emotion that could hinder in his function. Yet, he did experience a sort of relief his task finally came face to face with him, for he had not known before what it was safe for the way it smelled. He halted and brought the dome of his head close to her, seeing her into every detail with echo and telepathy.

Odygos drifted in circles around the two, curiously taking in the event as well. Little seemed to happen in the visual field, but what occured was similar to the meeting between Kirindi and her sister Ti'chai-di. Yet, unlike that encounter, this was serene and ordened. Neither of the drones were burdened with negative and pointless emotions such as sadness and suffering. Crystal clear they were, especially the youngest.

Kirindi found it strange now, suddenly. He was designated to protect her, yet never before had anyone specifically protected her safe for Karga'te. The human part of her mind fought to give this a place in the structure of her all, her life. Her instinct however simply danced with the minds of the others.

He was hers, so to say, this new drone. Part of her and that was what he was for. So, she could name him, right?

"-Eliath-"

A spark of confusion came within the warrior. Odygos swiftly related her human habit of "naming". Eliath let it be. She could do as she wanted, it didn't matter to him.

Kirindi reached out with her hands, pulling herself closer to the front dome of his head, like she did with her sister and Karga'te. Eliath did not understand it, for Odygos spoke to him at that moment : that he was wrong, it would matter.

At that moment, he felt Kirindi's strange mental touch wave through him, the human aspect of her mind interwoven with the alien one. But unlike Odygos, he did not wonder. It felt pleasant, yet meant nothing to him, still. She persisted and he began to recognize why it felt so good; it was like the calling of a queen and compliance on his side. It vaguely felt threatening as it conflicted with the idea of only having a single queen, yet that soon faded. Reassurance was pointless, technically, but it was a concept the warrior could grasp. She placed herself submissive under the Mother, such she told him and that was enough.

All seemed well to Kirindi. Peacefullness was a rare experience, even though she had no expectations of life up until shortly. When Sarah would come, she would bring order to it all.


	13. Hidden Eye

**Chapter 13 : Every Hidden Eye**

_February 21, 2578  
__Location : Enigma II, Research Station of Xenomorphic Entities._

_

* * *

_

From under the sheets, she saw the lamp go on, replacing the comforting blackness with a stinging light that she did not want to face. For a long time she did not stir except to cover her eyes with her hands and pretend the shadows were still there.

She soon heard the hurried noises of the man in the other room, rushing to get ready because he could not condone his own lazy attitude anymore. Once, she might have smirked as she heard him move across the room to gather various tools. He still didn't put away what he used, just like in past times; in the morning he always needed to search for where he had put everything.

After a while, there was a knock on the door. "Sarah, I think you're awake...and if you're not, you have to become so and get up. We'll be late."

The answer came in a short, low grumble. Her usual acknowledgment of his presence.

"Five minutes, Sarah."

When he was gone for sure she pushed herself up, a web of blonde hair covering her face. Groggily she jerked at them, but they were in knots as usual. She'd have to cut it for the second time this month already, the stuff had been growing insanely fast lately. But now she had no time. For a few minutes she wrestled with the overly long strands until she managed to force them into a messy bun behind her head, after which she went to dress.

Breakfast was simple but efficient as always, not just by food but also by action. She made a specific habit of ignoring Jonah entirely, working her food in by a steady ritual. He had given up on trying to tie on a conversation and endured her silence.

Jonah couldn't quite blame her for her attitude. She now knew what work he did here and the fact that she was not allowed to go home had not been welcomed either, let alone had she been happy when learning that her parents and family had been given the report that she was deceased in an accident.

At least she was alive, though how was a mystery. For all Sarah could know, she had been unconscious for a four days before waking up in the medical chambers. Little did she know she had been dead for that time.

Jonah and Sarah finished around the same time and the robotic arms extended from the wall to clean up. Still without words, Sarah stood up and left Jonah at the table. He sat there for a moment, then retreated to his own room to retrieve another thing he'd forgotten, and left.

As soon as he was gone, the disinterested expression on Sarah's face was replaced by one of tension. Quickly gathering a few things she would need at work and throwing them on a pile, she hurried her way out of her room.

The unlit aquarium in the main chamber stirred suddenly, and from it a blank shape emerged, a large head with one fully grown-out eye where as the other side remained undeveloped. It pressed itself against the spherical glass that separated it from the room, propelling itself forward with weak little arms.

Sarah approached it and send gentle mental signals, as she had learned so well over the past weeks. Unable to cope yet with advanced thoughts, all she could do was soothe the little creature. She knew very well about Jonah's past bond with the queen chimera, and intended to do this better than him. The fool who had once been her friend had kept this fetus because he needed it's presence to feel less guilty, or whatever. Honestly, she did not want to care.

One thing had been clear, this was the only surviving fetus that the queen chimera ever birthed. As such, it should be capable of the same mental bonding as her mother and aunt, Sarah had reasoned, and by good means. With her mind already opened by Kirindi, it had not taken much effort to establish a soft connection to the "unborn" child.

Sarah offered memories of happy times and mostly the feelings with it, molding the little one into a gentle being, so she hoped in any case. She also offered sadness and endurance, for there was no good in denying the truth. In fact, learning the young mind how to deal with this thing in other ways than rage would ensure sanity.

Nonetheless, it was amazing how easily the unborn came to depend on her. She sometimes saw the ghost of a smile on the deformed lips and the reaching of a limb to her. For Sarah, the world around her had become a strange, meaningless haze, except for the tiny moments she could completely dedicate herself to the unborn child. In a world full of monsters, it was her anchor to humanity.

_

* * *

._

Jonah, though current manager of the cloning facility, had little status on Enigma II and no involvement in the actual experiments on the Internecivus Raptus. Hence, he had learned that the times he was called into the xenomorph Safe Zone brought him no good. 

There he was heading now in a small hovercart, pondering over all possible options just to keep his mind occupied. Once having arrived there, he had his eyes scanned, breath identified and microchip checked, after which he entered cautiously. Luckily, he could skip the physical check-up.

The summon description led him past various blank halls with nearly unseen doors. Once, a soft shriek in the distance startled him and he halted, realizing how tensed he was. Mentally raising a tighter barrier, he continued on.

At the end of the hall, he finally got a clue where he was headed; the door before him was just a little more ornate. It was the lead scientist's personal work chamber. He had never been this far into the inner zone, only to the impregnation chambers on occasion.

The door opened before him after a quick scan defined his identity and he stepped in. It was not what he expected. Unlike the rest of the inner facility, this room was not a piercingly bright white. It seemed rather dark and had many holoscreens on. On them, Jonah quickly identified various drones and tests being performed, while the rest gave view of the creatures in their hives.

Other than the neatly aligned screens, the room looked a bit on the messy side and much to his surprise, Jonah found family pictures in the half-darkness. Laughing faces of a brownhaired woman and a young child, children's paintings, a little footprint in clay, three worn stuffed animals...almost like a sanctuary of memories, this room shifted out of the grim white reality of the rest of the station and forced Jonah to think of what he had lost himself.

Looking around, he found no one present. A little uncomfortable, he resisted to urge to stick his hands in his pockets, and waited.

The soft hiss of a drain sounded and a moment later, a tall man emerged from the toilet. Jonah could not suppress a sense of awkwardness; of all places to have been when you were set to meet someone.

He was acknowledged with a brief nod and a motion with the hand to a seat. Jonah walked to the chair and sat down, while the man walked to a nearby computer and typed a few things.

The new lead scientist was an aged man with short grey hair and a long, edged face, his eyes looking out with calmness from their deep sockets, almost sad. Turning the computer off, the man then turned to Jonah. Instead of sitting behind his desk, he took the second chair before it, placing himself next to the young man.

"Jonah Bayard, I am Walltraud Malcolm. I presume you know my reason for being here."

Jonah nodded. "I do, doctor."

"Do you indeed?" said the Chief scientist blandly. "Nobody can hear us here, nobody can see us in this room. Doctor Sullivan has ensured such a long time ago." Jonah was surprised at this statement, why would the chief scientist be concerned about whether or not anyone heard him when he spoke in his office?

"Doctor Bayard, tell me, why are you on Enigma II?"

Was this a trick question? He must have showed a suspecting expression on his face, as Walltraud quickly clarified :"No, I do not ask you about Amy 2. I ask you whether you know why you hold the position you hold? You should have been in a laboratory, being studied on your symbiotic mind with the now lost chimera."

Another thing Jonah tried to forget. "I made myself useful, doctor." It was true, he had been allowed some privileges like walking around, and had mildly befriended the man in charge of cloning. Jonah's natural intelligence combined with his now enhanced sensory perception had proved useful in the work with cloned bodies. Then there had been the incident with the escaped drones.

"From what I hear, you survived only because you locked yourself in a clone's tube." A vaguely amused smile appeared on the man's face, Jonah was lost at what to expect. "But yes, you are useful. More than you know. Did you never wonder why the Board of Direction was so eager to replace Sullivan so speedily, rather than letting another scientist take charge?"

Jonah furrowed his brows. "Doctor, I would greatly appreciate it if you would be clear. I have little knowledge as to what goes on beyond my own working space."

The man nodded, almost as if seeming to remember where he was.

"They all go insane."

Curiosity appeared on Jonah's face and he leaned a little further out of the chair.

"By the time you came aboard a few years ago, Sullivan already was no man the Board wanted to see in charge, but they had little choice. Enigma II is like an experiment on itself. You must have known about his outbursts of anger. His personal vendetta against you resulted in choosing old friends of you as hosts. This is no procedure that the Direction would condone, you need to know."

When no reply came, Walltraud continued :"You know about mr. Schrüder as well. Amy 3 came aboard of Enigma and almost immediately began influencing him. This was because he, like many others, already had been under a great deal of influence prior to her visit, making them easy targets.

Jonah tensed up. "Do you mean that Amy 2 has been-"

The man raised his hand in a gesture that he should be calm. "No. I suggest you read the history files of Enigma 2 soon. They will learn you interesting things."

"Such as what?"

"Such as it being a standard to have telepaths and empaths on an Enigma station to predict outbreaks. All those on Enigma II started to go insane about seven years ago, resulting in them siding with the xenomorph and becoming generally...homicidal. It happened before Amy 2, and never happened on any other station. The Direction removed the clairvoyance-protocol for Enigma II and turned this station into a testing facility on it's self."

"What changed, seven years ago? Experiments on what?" Jonah had already understood this was not about some error of his, this man seemed to have no interest in him personally.

"We call her Regina Insolita. I would say she is one of the queens we keep here, but such would not be entirely scientifically accurate. We do not know what exactly she is, but it is not what she looks like on the outside."

"How so?"

"Regular Internecivus Raptus queens are intelligent, but never sentient. I have reason to believe this particular queen is not a member of the Internecivus Raptus species."

_

* * *

_

Sarah meandered through the countless halls, performing various tasks. Synthetic lifeforms were prohibited on Enigma 1 to 3 due to certain security settings, or rather said settings not being updated. As was proved on the most recent Chimera Incident, androids had quite a bit of control on Utara and all it needed was a few A.I. viruses to be smuggled aboard. As such, all synthetic activity had been banned from the station on order of a certain Isabel Landener.

So, that left small people like Sarah and two others to do menial work that normally was reserved for machines. Off course, they did not function as efficient as androids, but it was for the better in the larger scale as now a specific set of detectors could be installed that responded to activity of silicone relais.

Sarah rarely met the other two workers, could not even say for sure what gender the third one was, and didn't care in the least. Solitude was her preference. Humans looked so ugly lately. Though, somewhere in the back of her mind she knew this couldn't keep going.

She understood she could never return home, she would very well live the rest of her probably short life on this station. Heck, she'd probably die here when something went wrong again. But, she kept moving onward, and yet it didn't feel like hope.

Her pager beeped. She drew it from her pocket and looked at it. She cleared the screen, loaded the message again, and read it once more.

Miss Sarah Donovinh, your position has been reconsidered. From hence forth you will fill a position in the inner zone, sector 8. Move to said sector at once in the soon to be arriving transport.

"Just when I got used to this..."she whispered. "And it's half an hour before lunch break." she grumbled angrily.

The hovercart arrived soon, and she climbed on it. During the short trip, at least short to her experience of time, she kept mumbling to herself, drowning anxiety in annoyance. Upon arrival, she was guided into a small ante-chambers by one of the scientists working there.

He performed a small check-up on her, testing her reflexes and how clear her mind was by asking a few trick questions. When Sarah asked what this was for, she received a brief reply that it was protocol. After that was a quick physical check-up, and control of her identity. Physical check-ups were required on everyone each single week, it was only recently that she had learned they were in fact testing the activity of something called the "Ash Chromosome". What it meant she hadn't figured out though.

Next, she was guided into the Safe Zone. At first sight, the area didn't look very different from the halls she was used to. White, sterile and with many locked doors. The familiar holes in the corners of each wall-end indicated that the frost blasters were installed here too. Though, opposed to the regular halls, the somewhat more gloomy cargo-halls were absent. It was nothing but white and sterile. Such a nicely kept hell, she thought.

"Why am I here?" she eventually asked her guide.

"I would not know, I would not care." was the reply. Definitely not one to tie a conversation with.

In silence, the trek went on until a seemingly random door slid open. Sarah's eyes widened at the sight before her. A vast hall stretched itself out before her, barred away with iron and the dense plasticide she was familiar with.

There was a gigantic tank of sorts, but without water. It was filled with a dark, uneven yet seemingly alive mass. She could not recognize whether it was organic or mechanic, it seemed to be some of both and strongly reminded her off the Internivus' outer shell. True indeed, she saw a few tiny dots move...was the distance that big? They seemed so tiny from here.

A tap on her shoulder by the doctor reminded her that she was to follow. Looking around, she saw she was in a small control chamber that monitored the activity in the hive far below. The two people present paid no heed to her and her companion at all, they were busy watching a few screens. Sarah cast another glance at the hive down below, but did not have time to find anything out about how this whole thing was kept isolated. Her guide coughed softly and gave her a scowling face; she was taking too long.

She followed and came into another hallway. This led to what seemed to be, in the simplest sense, a trainway station topped over. Several pairs of rails were spanned over the ceiling, cabins hanging from them, and it even had simple non-digital doors.

The doctor opened the nearest and beckoned her to enter. Sarah stepped in and sat down. Much to her surprise, the controls were darn simple too; though the machine was propelled by the rails the directions were hand fed into the controls by of all things a wheel. Wheels in the modern age were quite a rare sight, as most things could be done electronically.

The man saw her curious gaze and sighed as if giving in. He then explained :"In case of any electronic outbreak or virus, people in cabins would be able to make their way out of the hive without help from Utara."

"Out of the hive?"

"Yes, what else?"

A gate before them opened, just leaving enough size for the cabin to go through. A few seconds later, after crossing a raster, Sarah found herself hovering right above the hive-grounds she had seen previously. She gasped in shock. The bottom of the cabin was made out of the strong acrari plasticide as well, allowing clear sight through. Below them, drones made their way as they cared for the hive texture, while others simply were lying around doing nothing.

"Thanks to the hunters, we are in possession of metals resistant to acid. The entire safe zone is made out of it, as is the hull. Expensive, as you understand, but very useful. We keep them at bay with frost all around the walls and we have pins coming from the same walls to kill anything that comes too far. Plus, we always make sure there never are enough drones to form a tower to reach the cabins or even the edges of the wall." The hint of pride in the man's voice did not go unnoticed on Sarah. All she could do was stare in bewildered amazement down below.

At the same time, something began creeping at the edge of her mind. It was familiar, and vaguely reminded her of hanging out with Kirindi, but even more so of the time that that drone has been around her, the one that had caused her to be stuck here.

It did not take long before they reached the other end. Much to Sarah's increasing surprise, she found Jonah waiting there, a large smile plastered over his face, one that actually seemed genuine. He reached to help her step out while saying :"I finally got you a transfer. Believe it or not, this place is saver in case of an outbreak than out there."

Sarah wasn't quite sure what to reply, the sight of the powerful hive lingering in her mind. It was invisible now as the gate was closed behind them, but she almost felt it in her very cells. She must have looked dazed, for Jonah grew a worried face and went to catch her something to drink.

When he returned, he was accompanied by an unknown man. He handed her a glass of water and said :"Most people have that, when they first pass the hive. It's the telepathic communication; this particular hive has a powerful one. But don't worry, the one you'll be working with is more sound orientated."

Her mouth opened, but she forgot to say her words. Jonah grinned. "Come on, Sarah, I'll show you around. First, meet Walltraud Malcolm. He is the new chief of Enigma II and seems to be less grumpy than Sullivan." Such was Jonah's failed attempt at appearing jolly.

Sarah was suspicious at his sudden good mood, but couldn't pinpoint at all why. Perhaps he was truly happy for getting her a new job, whatever it would be.

Walltraud gave her a courteous nod and said :"According to doctor Bayard you have a good record in science, such a thing we can always use. As you can guess, thanks to those who tend to break the rules, we are often under-employed."

"Such as Sullivan?" asked Sarah dimly. "Yes, such as Sullivan and his grudges and passions." said Walltraud evenly.

Sarah looked at the man's thin face and blandly said :"I find it suspicious that the chief scientist just drops by to say hello to me."

It had an interesting effect, the man seemed to swallow whatever he was about to say, and then just stared at her. She couldn't tell the exact emotion, was it sadness and surprise or suppressed anxiety?

"Ah yes." he finally said, cutting off Jonah who was about to reply to her wordless vote of suspect. "I suppose it is. Would it suffice for now if I said I was curious at the only person aboard this ship who has shown none of the psychological consequences of being around three xenomorph hives?"

Jonah cast Walltraud a questioning glance; but Walltraud smiled oddly and continued :"No nightmares you have, no severe depressions, no suicidal moves. You've not been searching for ways to reach the xenomorph and you've not been showing violent or excessive behavior. That makes you useful, and I am sure your lack of experience in these fields will soon be compensated for. You learn quick, from what I hear."

Sarah simply stared at the man, loathing already growing in her eyes. Another person who used people as tools. "I suppose I should be happy my purpose does not include being host." she said coldly.

The man looked back into her intense gaze and simply said :"I am no villain, mrs. Donovinh. This world knows no villains or heroes, just madmen and those who oppose them. It's up to you to decide what you will be and what we are in the first place. That too will contribute to how useful you are."

Sarah looked past him, avoiding his eyes now. Jonah reached out and softly took her hand, but she pulled away. "Come now, Sarah, I'll show you where to go. I've got the day off anyway, I'll introduce you and-"

"If you don't mind, I'd actually prefer the company of mister stoic over there." she said, pointing to the man who had accompanied her earlier. Said man scowled at his new nickname, but made no move to object. Sarah simply didn't want to be around Jonah; there was something new she needed to explore.

Jonah was left standing with the chief scientist as she left the rail-chamber.

"She hates me alright."

"She'll learn emotions are pointless here."

Jonah gave an weak laugh. "I hope not."

Walltraud stared at the spot where Sarah had disappeared with her guide. "Isn't that how you survived Amy II? If my guess is right, ..." The sentence remained unfinished. Jonah however played a thousand reasons against the simple thing Walltraud had stated in their previous conversation. It wasn't so because of this, because of that, because of Amy, because of...

_

* * *

_

_February 26, 2578  
__Location : Enigma II, Research Station of Xenomorphic Entities._

The large black dome moved in monotony behind the plasticide, from one side to another side in mirror to her motion.

It was forbidden, she knew. Enigma II was entirely about artificial genetic rewriting and similar nonsense. Off course, that had entirely nothing to do with her and if she wanted to explore the mind of monsters, who would stop her? Everyone was taking drugs to reduce their levels on the scales of empathy and telepathy. She deposited these in the blood samples instead.

Her first day had been one of introduction and tormenting her instructor. Sarah had begun to feel more giddy the longer she stayed here in the Safe Zone, which faded again once she left to her quarters with Jonah.

The second day had been composed out of practice with extracting samples from xenomorph drones. She had been designated to the 'quiet hive'. The 'violent hive' she had passed on her first day and the third one belonged to a defunct queen with no children.

The third day had learned her that this hive was quiet because the queen's genetic structure had been influenced greatly due to a prior host. Regular queens were untainted by their host, but on occasion a regular drone was forced to develop into a praetorian and then a queen, allowing some of the traits being consistent. It reflected in her offspring, which communicated mainly through sound and had a rather weak frontal lobe, making mental influence easy.

The fourth day she had been given a watch-group, a few drones from the quiet hive which she was to observe as a few tests were run on them. She'd been calmer then than before, and during a brief break she'd read up on a few files of the past. "The Big Deletion" that had occurred many years ago had been a convenient set-up for what was then still a rebellious group, they'd kept what was erased from official files and the like. Now, said rebellious group had formed the Unations and to many scientists, files had become available. The Labyrinth files had been her inspiration on her next move. She began to do with the drones what she did to the little fetus in Jonah's quarters : she spoke without a word. A silent exchange it was, inaudible to anyone but those allowed to hear it. The drones didn't receive it, at first. Sarah had felt pleasantly challenged.

The fifth day she already had a spark of proof they were perceiving her telepathic touch.

The sixth day was now. The drone behind the glass followed her every move, pacing past the glass window as he seemed desperate to device a way to reach and kill her. Its queen had ordered it so, for she was intruding in the hive mind and hence a threat.

Sarah loved it, though she found it somewhat offensive she was shipped in the same boat at the rest of the scientists. She was, after all, a victim here too. Not that she could honestly blame the drones and their queen, they were lacking sentience and reasoning.

Tapping slightly on the glass she curiously looked at the reaction. The creature charged at her, gaining no success. The acrari plasticide perfectly absorbed its assault.

"You need anger management. You waste energy." said the woman.

The drone hissed.

Sarah quirked her eyebrows. "I suppose..that would mean you'd never move as long as you live here, or until you escape. Hm. That would be pointless, would it? Never mind, continue moving. I am sure your anger's more productive than nothingness."

She returned to her working table and called for the camt-databank. The next test to be performed consisted out of adding a specific acid to the xenomorph's bloodstream that was known to impair their sense of smell. It had been added to the same drone for a few months now, and it seemed as if its ability to smell prey actually seemed to decrease. In its stead, hearing became even more accurate, similar to how a blind humans hearing increased.

With disabling scent, the scientists hoped to get rid of one of the impulses that made drones crave for food. It was a proved fact they did not need food, eating perhaps was a side-effect of the DNA-reflex. What interested Sarah far more was that this meant their neurological structure seemed to have primitively similar functions as humans : when one sense faded another became stronger. Yet, it was also a known fact that the xenomorph existed long before any life on earth. Coincidence? Universal pattern? Fascinating for a nerd in any case.

Tapping her fingers across the control panel quickly, she received the needed protocols for micro-observation. Then she took her notepad and went back to the separation, ready to tap down anything memorable for her later ponderings. She had to admit, this job was vastly more interesting than her prior one. It challenged her mind and the Internecivus was fearsome and beautiful creations, she couldn't get enough of observing them and their behavior.

A cloud of oddly blackish gas filled the cell before her. A wonderful invention it was, the gas would condense only in a certain heat level and the plasticide was too cold for it. Though Internecivus had no infrared signature, they did have internal heat. They didn't breath either, but the tiny layer of acid that condensed on their frontal lip and inner mouth was enough to do the job. From there on, it leaked into their bloodstream and damaged the scent-organs from the inside.

She felt a tiny jab of pain on her own upper lip and reminded herself that for any future tests, she shouldn't be too connected to the drone's mind in case it was too painful. She sighed, no time to draw out of it now.

Next would be released something that normally could serve as a food source for the drone. Sarah waited.

It took quite some time, but then a hatch opened in the far side of the cell. Something rolled out.

Sarah's mouth simultaneously dropped.

It was a human.

She could not tell whether it was an adult or a child, a male or a female, as the form was so undefined.

Jonah's clones.

Pathetically, the form crawled over the ground, making undefined noises similar to those of a baby, but with a more matured voice. The arms flayed about, the head wobbled on the neck; it was clear the soul had hardly been given any attention to make it functional, let alone been taught to do anything. A glass tube's life spat out like a fish coming to the dry.

A stinging sensation filled Sarah's eyes. Unmistakeably, the relaxed mood she had had just a few seconds ago faded at the sight of the poor human, replaced with utter horror. She'd seen them in the tubes alright, but they had never seemed to alive, so helpless.

The drone, as expected, did not move to attack. After all, the creature didn't smell like anything at the moment and hence was not perceived as anything useful to build the hive with, let alone was it a threat. Instead, the drone began pacing faster before the window, unwillingly perceiving Sarah's increasingly angry emotions and wanting it to stop invading him.

Sarah didn't see the black monster anymore, only the pale thing at the other end of the cell. Veins were visible, blue blood sickeningly obvious as it flowed underneath its skin. A discarded clone, ill and sick and not suited for impregnation. Or life.

"Kill it, please." she whispered.

The drone didn't respond, naturally. Sarah's eyes remained fixed on the form as it tried to crawl up. Fragments of fear were obvious, and it fed Sarah's seething rage.

She now looked at the drone and forced all of her mind awake. "End it." she whispered again, her face deceitfully calm while her mind fell into a rhythm of commanding the drone. It was so simple, it was in its instinct. "You were made to kill. Do it."

Made to kill indeed.

It took long. The queen did not affirm nor deny Sarah's sharp message, only said it was an intrusion. Suddenly, the drone stood up and stalked to the end of the cell. There, it reached out and pulled the human's head closer. The tongue brought a merciful death, quick and simple.

Sarah felt like fainting, but her body didn't give away. She just stood there, and after a while she returned to her desk.

"Temporary set-back." she whispered as she typed in the results; the drone had killed the target after all.

_

* * *

._

Walltraud sat back in his seat and avoided Jonah's gaze, instead focusing on the many screens surrounding him. 

"That was...cruel." said the young man.

"It was an experiment."

Jonah closed his eyes. "She might figure out we are watching her, if her telepathy grows so strong she can command a drone like that, so quickly. The Cay-gas works, it-"

"Perhaps she can guess we are watching anyway. We are all being watched as well, if I may remind you." said Walltraud solemnly. "Besides, it wasn't that great a deal. She merely shed her human restrictions, the drone responded to what he mistook for a command. You see, when I said she'd lose her emotions, I meant that in the human way. Our way. Perhaps she'll adopt their way instead."


	14. Mental Mirages

**Chapter 14 : Mental Mirages**

_March 18, 2578_

_Location : Enigma II, Research Station of Xenomorphic Entities._

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* * *

_

Ticketytak.

The clock was obnoxious. It moved too fast, her shift would be over soon. She wasn't sure what was wrong with time anyway. Lately, it seemed so much more...present. In a way it seemed to move faster, yet it also seemed more of it passed.

She breathed out loudly and drew the attention of her co-worker. He had not failed to notice the woman's recent semi-philosophical musings, especially since she'd spout them out on occasions, winding into long and pointless debates. He fiercely hoped she wouldn't begin talking now.

The drones far beneath them scurried along as their queen had ordered them to upgrade the hive complex. As usual, they were up to something, but Nuitar, the inner zone's separate A.I. System always was one step ahead. Three, on occasion, and they could include the escape attempts of the hive in their experimenting.

"Gerard."

The man crossed his arms and sighed. "Yes?" he said, trying to sound bland.

"Jonah mentioned something. About an experiment today, with the third hive. I haven't seen anything of that hive yet. I want to see that experiment."

The man's eyes widened for a moment, then he said :"It's nothing of interest, just the average resistance check."

"Jonah checked the history files a few days ago and he looked at the personnel history. He looks at them a lot, he seems intent on reading all of them, letter ... for ... letter."

Gerard shifted in his chair and threw a despairing glance at the clock. "I was curious, off course. So I asked Utara to show me those files as well." Sarah's eyes were half-closed as they focused on her college and smiled as she saw him tense up.

"You have no such authority with Utara."

"Oh really? I did not know that. She seemed friendly enough when she handed me the access code." The man made a mental note to report this as soon as the shift was over, but first he wanted to know whether she was bluffing or not.

As if she had been waiting for this thought, Sarah said : "They are of mighty interest, the doctoral files that describe how the clairvoyants when insane. Many files mention _her_. It started, after the arrival of _her_." Sarah put the tops of her fingers against eachother and her smile widened. "I just want to see her. It seemed like a good opportunity. And you, you have the clearance pass I need."

Gerard stared at her with a glimpse of horror, then restored himself. "And you do not."

"Yes, I should be a host for an orincubix. We all know. Yet I live and such comes with many things. One being curiosity." She pointed vaguely at the transparent floor. "They are the only thing to be curious about, but this hive is so tame. I read the reports on Hive Faction I as well, they are far more aggressive. Their queen is tainted by host DNA, she used to be a drone, not a queen embryo. But we don't know about _her_."

"Look, I can't-"

"We simply walk in. It's not like Utara is going to make an alarm go off or anything. She is curious too, you see."

"But..."

_

* * *

_

Sarah looked at her companion, seeing him thoroughly spooked made her more relaxed. The Mother's mind was growing stronger each moment they gave her more release from her cryogenic sleep, she was helping already.

She had come so quietly, sneaking her way into her mind, into that of others. The Mother was tired though, not having fed for many, many years. Her range wasn't that powerful, yet. Off course, that was in comparison to what it truly could enfold.

As if entranced, Gerard opened the door to the next level. Eye scans were completed easily, and as Sarah had predicted, Utara did nothing. Sarah couldn't quite explain it either, but a short while back, Utara had simply contacted her and informed her that she was subject to an experiment.

It had revealed a few interesting facts, such as her demise. A regular brain would dissolve in a way due to the rapid decomposition of a crucial element, for some reason this had not happened with her. The humans had kept her around for research as it had been proved a dead body could still be used as host, when they had tried to reanimate the useful parts of her, she had woken up. Well, that had explained the weird "sickbay".

Now, Jonah and his latest best friend, Walltraud Malcolm, were curious as to why she wasn't displaying the right psychological patterns. It had to do with her brain, no doubt. They were curious. So was she. So was Utara. There were three parties here : Walltraud and his scientist batch, Utara and her little secrets, and Noasyvé, the Mother. Sarah had easily chosen to root for the latter. The humans were her enemy and she knew next to nothing as to why Utara was showing independence of the rules.

The location she was led to was as the others : a semi-large white hall suited to hold a xenomorph hive. There was a difference though. Despite the entire ground being covered with hive texture, there was not a drone in sight. This was a surprise to Sarah, if the queen was in dormant state, who had build this hive territory?

She softly shook the shoulder of the by now zombie-esque Gerard and asked :"Where are the drones?"

"I don't know."

"Yes you do. You have access to Nuitar's files as well, Utara told me. Why are there no drones here?"

"I don't know why they died."

"Died...?"

The answer came in an incoherent vision, flashes accompanied by the monotone voice of Gerard reciting a filed report.

_Dimmed smudges of pain and a vague sense of going to sleep, her drones met death at the touch of an inaudible wave, coming from her._

"After three escape attempts, failed each one of them, they simply went to lie down."

_Not giving up. It was more a matter of saving them pain and the humans from gaining knowledge. She was not giving up by the least. She was waiting and the drones were not needed. No point in letting them suffer._

Sarah's lower lip shivered, but other than there, there was no sign of her shock. She couldn't even tell herself whether she felt like this due to the feeling that the memory brought, or the addition that being pointless could make them replaceable.

_The present matters. Future is inexistent, relative. They were not needed. Only _now _they lived._

The Mother was so clear now...she had woken up. Sarah took a step back from the window and looked up. All around the hall were windows from monitor-cabins, in one of them Jonah could be. Was he here at all?

The direction was quietly pointed to her and Sarah gazed unwillingly towards the cabin shown to her. Her vision was suddenly eerily clear and she saw the blond head even at this distance. He wasn't look at her but with his bionic eyes she had no doubt he would see her if he'd look over here.

_He won't_.

"-If they are not needed, you will let them die. Am I needed?-" Sarah thought, feeling a rising sense of distrust. It was a strange surprise when the Mother offered a sense of insurance, without forcing her to feel alright about it. Sarah's initial distrust remained, which had it's own way of comforting : her mind wasn't quite being manipulated into anything, she believed.

She tapped her fingers on the ridge that she leaned on and bit her lip, staring down intensely. The dark texture beneath her contrasted sharply to the luminescent white above, but the edge between them began to blur. Sarah saw her hands beginning to tremble and when she looked up again, the line was gone, the darkness flooded into the light and mingled with it like two colors of paint thrown together. Something was stirring it, within it...when the black had absorbed the white, it drew together into a solid form.

There was no behind, no aside, no cabin in which she stood and no surrounding, only that undecipherable form. It leaned towards something monstrous, but radiated no sense of threat. Dazed, Sarah reached out for it and found her hand was that of a young child.

Curiously, she stepped forward but there wasn't anything to step on, for there was no floor either. The form moved forward however and flowed all about her. A incredible sense of safety overcame her as she touched some sort of liquid. It flowed into her lungs, but she could breathe it. Like a womb, like being inside a mother...Sarah curled up and almost felt like shrinking even smaller, but then she resisted.

"I'm not submitting." she said.

There was toxic mist all about her and she recalled the environment in which she now stood as Terra Mirror, as she'd seen on the image files concerning the Amy Chimera. Back to her grown shape, breathing in and out hurt and a little, but wasn't quite a bother. Turning around, she looked over the marshes, spying for a shape. But there were only rocks like the one she stood on.

She seemed to be alone, but Sarah still felt the warmth of earlier. "You're here, I know it!" she called out.

"Noasyvé!"

Something wet forced itself into her shoes and as she looked down she found the rock turning to mush, causing her to sink in. With interest she looked at the process of disintegration : her feet were actually merging with the matter.

"This isn't nice, you know." she whispered.

Below her, a woman's face formed from the dark blue muck and stared back at her with pupilless eyes. A smile appeared on the lips.

_Then what do you want?_

"You're in me already, you have no need to ask that." said Sarah, an edge of annoyance in her voice.

_But you like it when I individualize you_.

"But it's a lie."

_Not entirely_.

"If my choice is between free will and being a drone, I'd rather stick with the old."

_But not all is black and white._

"But what is 'all', hm?"

A sudden jerk pulled Sarah deeper into the liquid rock and the face rose out, now a detached mask floating eye to eye with the human.

_You only need your absolute individuality because that is what makes a human strong. But not all is human and you are certainly not limited to being a human._

Sarah turned her head away and tried to cross her arms, only to find them liquefied and shapeless. Rising them only showed dripping sticks.

_Privacy, why? To hide your embarrassing secrets, to sort things out on your own? If you are not just one but a part of the others as well, shame would no longer exist. Your secrets, their secrets, they would only be for those outside of us. I do not plead for loss of your individuality and interdependency. I am with you because I need you for those_.

Sarah sighed. "But you do place a black and white. Us, and our enemies."

The face opened its mouth a little, producing laughter without sound.

_Not black and white. One formation. Another formation. And many other formations. Will you not see?_

"Could you not at least have asked me before entering me?"

_Your subconscious invited me, you needed and need me. Here I am_.

Sarah's face submerged and she screamed as silently as the mask had laughed as she felt herself fall apart.

But she was still there.

There was a fast grassy plain around her and again she stood on a rock. High white clouds stood against a azure blue sky and the horizon was everywhere.

_Run, my child_.

Sarah lingered however. After having been in the science station for so long, the intense width and wild scented wind had a great impact on her, but it did not last for long before she heeded the request. She wanted to run.

Her first step off the rock was slow, but as she felt the grass brush against her now bare legs, she felt how different she was. Still Sarah, but she no longer wore the restrictive laboratory clothes and did not seem to have overweight anymore. Nothing hindered her from running, so she ran.

Faster and faster until the rush of the halms was only one touch on her skin, she was sure she was no human anymore; no human could be this fast. Faster than the clouds and faster than sound, it did not take her long to reach the edge of the horizon.

Having arrived there, she had no choice but to stop. Peering down into the black abyss, she saw it stare back without eyes. The abyss had a shape similar to an Internecivus Raptus queen, but more regal and on four legs, shelled in black with a pearly reflection that was enhanced by the star to the right of her.

"Ello, ancient grave." whispered the human with dreamlike smile

The abyss did not respond, but reached out one of its smaller arms and pointed to the other end of the horizon. Sarah turned to look at it and found herself standing on that horizon as well. The plain was a little blotch of sand at her feet and she now stood in the middle of a dense rainforest. Strange sounds were everywhere and when she turned, there stood a Gargoyleosaurus. Blinking at her oddly, he said : "Climb."

So she climbed the nearest tree, and when it ran out of branches, she went to the roots of the next forest giant and climbed that. She didn't count how many trees she climbed, but time seemed very kind today. When she had climbed the last tree, there was a plateau before her. She stepped off the branch and the jungle became a heap of leaves at her feet.

_You know what to do_.

Sarah nodded. "Yes, off course. Just now, I am only cooperating because I am curious."

_To the truth_.

Sarah sank into the plateau and liquefied. Again she broke apart, but now motion was more fragmented and clear, and she could take it step by step. When she found the exit, she was in a sandstone chamber, quite barren.

Standing up quickly, she looked around and found a window. Outside was a gigantic cavity with an opening to one side, where she could see the rainforest restored. Beneath her were canyons with my individuals rummaging through them.

Sarah then walked to the nearest wall and stepped through it. What she found on the other end surprised her a little, but then she smiled.

Kirindi looked up and returned the smile. "Sarah! You came, you came!" she said happily. Discarding a few bones that she'd been cleaning, the chimera jumped up and embraced Sarah. "I missed you! I kept calling, but you didn't answer and the Mother was sleeping!"

Sarah took Kirindi at her shoulders and pushed her away gently to look her in the eyes. "I think you missed you too...your Mother?"

"Your Mother too!" said the child happily. "But come, you have to meet the others, we are happy here! They wait for you!"

Kirindi took Sarah at the arm and jerked her along, before jumping into the wall. Both of them fell apart, but Sarah became used to it. When they reassembled eachother, they were deep in the water. With powerful strokes, Kirindi swam forward, no longer pulling Sarah since Sarah could easily keep up.

"How've you been doing?" But it was as if Kirindi did not hear the question.

_She'll only feel. She cannot reach far yet_.

The underwater hive was strangely not as easy to cross as the plain and rainforest. It seemed to be more real to her and hence harder to grasp. Or perhaps it was that she felt less...

_

* * *

_

"Stop worrying, doctor Bayard. The woman survived death, no need to worry about her fainting." said Gerard, rubbing his forehead and eyening the nearby painkillers. Jonah followed his gaze and snatched the pills away. Putting them into a nearby hatch, he said :"You can't take those. It will interfere with the telepathy-killer."

"Please don't call it that, I don't like the idea of part of my brain dying." said the man irritably. Jonah rolled his eyes and resumed his pacing across the room, occasionally glancing at the woman on the bed.

After a while, Gerard said :"Could you _please_ stop doing that?"

"Uhm, how about no?" said Jonah.

Gerard gritted his teeth and hit a can of water of the table. It scattered on the floor and some od the drops landed on the unconscious Sarah. Jonah stopped pacing and stood stock still as he glared at Gerard.

"It's not for her health. It's for what they will be doing to her to find out what happened." he sneered.

"Oh that. Well, you bailed her out last time, mister mysterious influence. Do you think they were any less curious to how someones brain could still be fully operative after such a long time of inactivity, no blood and no life?"

"Sarah's physical resurrection was no mystery, they reanimated it. Her brain surviving was something she could not answer. But today Noasiv spoke to her, I know and the others know it. They'll want answers."

_

* * *

_

"Why am I here? I wanted to stay with Kirindi."

_There is another one to be like you. He is not ready to meet me. Kirindi had to go. You will meet her later. Again. We are a secret too, you see_.

"I see."

Sarah leaned down the bed on which she saw her real self lying, unconscious. A few images flashes in her mind, where her mirage began her body had fallen. She smiled and reached out to touch the body, feeling it as she was it.

Jonah again resumed his pacing and Sarah frowned at him.

_This man loves you. Because he always did, and now more because you remind him._

Sarah grunted. "He is Jonah, but I can't love him. He is like Humans."

_He is surviving. He is useful. He is their enemy_.

"Do you need him, Noasyvé?"

_Not now. Do you hate him?_

"Not always." she said with a sigh. "So, what's up with me? I was dead, I live. How?"

_The orincubix used during what the humans call the "Chimera Incident" were my children. You do not remember being impregnated. I disabled the embryo and directed the nano-agent to enhance you_.

Sarah whirled her toes through the water and glass on the floor. She sighed deeply. "So. I am not very human anymore already. I am yours already. Liar. I have no choice in this, do I?"

_I give you a choice because I can. It is convenient if you serve me without my direct command. But yes, I could force you and I will force you to serve me if you refuse._

Sarah looked up. Past Gerard stood a woman with very, very dark skin and black hair all the way to the ground. "Why is it convenient if I serve you will?"

The face smiled as it had done before and the form held out her hand. Reluctantly Sarah stepped forward and took it. Resisting the urge to let herself be absorbed, Sarah followed the soundless shape as they broke apart and merged into the surrounding. They dropped out of the station and into the void of space, where they fell a far time until reaching another station, similar in design yet with more primitive technology. It was entitled : Enigma I.

They merged into the ship, and dropped into a small cell. Sarah noticed at once it was entirely dark here, very unusual for the high level district. Through a strange way of seeing she knew there to be a creature here, and many others in cells beyond the walls. It took her a little adjusting, but the form grew clearer and clearer while the body of Noasyvé dissolved.

It was a yautja. She only knew these creatures from image files and they had never held her interest. Hunters who took lives for no other reason than to get their honor, as far as the files told her and she did not respect the wasting of life for needlessly selfish gains. But what she saw here triggered her sympathy regardless of its culture.

The yautja bled from unbound wounds and the xenomorphic sight revealed a scent of illness and many metal adjustions within the body. The lights, they were off because they had replaced his organic eyes with bionic eyes to see how the brain would respond to the different information. The wounds were unbound because the victim had developed an allergy against the synthethic bandages.

But as prone as the body was, as vivid was the mind. She already felt a violent aura as she knelt down and reached out, but her touch was air and only gave he a sense of incredible pain.

Yet, there was a response.

The yautja rattled unknown sounds, and the translation Sarah soon began to pick up made little more sense. One thing was clear, he knew Noasyvé was here.

What was here, anyway?

"Can you hear me?"

"Failingfailingfailing, stupid! You are all! Nothing is really alive, cause it all dies? You? You? You? You? You? You? You you you! Pain..."

Sarah tried to enact touch again, but now the yautja shot up and lashed out against the thin air.

"Can I help you?" asked Sarah, only to have her offer fall on deaf ears. She was close to tears. "What did you do to him, Noasyvé?" she called out.

"Syva? Syva? Syva is her name?" growled the yautja, crawling up and moving straight through Sarah's body.

_Meke'tor. I needed him. I forced him. But his weak organic brain could not deal with it. I kept him alive, until his chemicals and synapses could no longer respond to my command. He is insane. This happens to all those forced to obey through the telepathy of a Queen. That is why I try persuasion._

The yautja's attempts to stand up failed and he dropped to the ground again. "Hear!" he growled, before passing out. Sarah stood up and backed off from the prone form as she saw that the yautja now stood in the mirage space as well, a few inches from the real soul only.

"Did you bring her to the humans?" asked Sarah. "You brought her to them, didn't you?"

The form across of her gurgled loudly and shivered, feet losing touch with the ground as he jumped forward and tried to grab Sarah. Moments before reaching her, the form dissolved. Sarah floated outside in space, alone.

_I was not done creating Kirindi but we had to leave soon. I went to his ship to prepare departure, believing I could control him further. He was no second carbon-drone only, I had no experience with drones not meant to be drones. I went to build a new womb in the ship, and he sealed me in and dropped a bomb on the place, promising me to detonate it up as we left, would I try to do anything. He went out of control within seconds_.

Sarah curled up to a ball and hid her face in her hands. "That will happen to me too then. If I were to obey you willingly only to to save my sanity, would you still care?"

The stars faded and the black formed again, taking away all dimension. Enfolding her, Sarah became a young girl again and entered the womb. She still tried to resist full control, but there was no escaping. She surrendered, and the moment she did this, Noasyvé let go all control of her. There was only comfort now. Safety within the mother's womb. Far from harm, she could stay here...

_

* * *

_

Karga'te looked down at the sleeping Kirindi. He groaned as she turned over in her sleep and looked over his shoulder at Ti'chai-di. "Alright. Before I go to employ all my tricks to wake her, why don't you show me whether you know a better way, hm? You seemed very amused the last time I tried to wake her."

Ti'chai-di's skeletal face managed to return a very toothy grin. Then, she turned around elegantly, scraping a few stones off the wall in the process and nearly knocking Karga'te off his feet. He ducked in time and grunted. "Excellent. Just excellent! You know, if she doesn't wake up, you'll be the one to join me on the shift!"

Something resembling hiccups came from the room into which Ti'chai-di had disappeared. Karga'te barked back :"Oh I know how much you _like_ that, don't pretend!"

He clenched his mandibles stiff together to keep himself from shouting anymore, for he could feel it only served to amuse Ti'chai-di more. At first he had been annoyed by her lack of response, but thanks to Jake and Shadhahvar, Ti'chai-di had found various human things in her awakened. Amusement and gloating were amongst them, and she liked to the sensation of joy she got from enacting them. Karga'te entirely blamed the fact that Kirindi was sleeping so long lately on her increased brain activity. It didn't actually tire him, but then again he was not fully exposed. Right. Yes. Reciting that same bit of information in his head definitely did good to calm himself down.

"What the heck do I have to do to make you corporate, you stupid softyhardmeat!?" he roared out.

Something jumped on him from behind. Surprised that he hadn't felt her wake up so suddenly, Karga'te looked up. Kirindi had settled on his shoulders as usual and peered down into his eyes. "Who's been learning you to wake without me knowing it?" he said, trying to act angry and failing as his anger ebbed away under Kirindi's mental touch.

"People I meet in my dreams." she said happily. Karga'te looked at her puzzled, but shrugged it off. "Well, because of you we are late now. Get your gear, and let's go."

"Ti'chai-di says she wants to join us anyway."

"Oh indeed? And why would I let her?"

"Please?"

"No, really. Why?"

"Please?"

"Not good enough." he said with a grin as he picked her off his shoulders and put her on the ground. "Get your gear, now."

"Please?"

"Good luck explaining why not to Ti'chai-di." he said, while shoving her out of the door softly. He closed the door behind her and the moment her felt the activity between the sisters increase, he stepped into the now empty dorm's of the chimera.

Looking around first, he probed the surrounding quickly. Then he knelt down and hovered a hand over the place she had been sleeping. His attempts to pick up any energetic prints of what had been going on fell on nothing and he grumbled to himself for still being so weak in the mind. Regardless, it was only a matter of time before he'd be able to read past energy signatures. The dreams he shared with Ti'chai-di learned him a new art : hiding parts of his mind from others.

Kirindi had no idea how much he knew, and he tried to keep it that way.

Interaction ceased and as Kirindi's mind returned its attention to him, he reached for a little doll that she'd been making today and successfully pretended his attention to that.

Kirindi entered the room, fully in her armor now and she managed to glomp him once more. Placing a hand on the ground to keep from tipping over, Karga'te clattered his mandibles and said :"After this shift, you can let me meet your new friend."

Dropping the doll, he stood up and they walked out. Remaining behind were over a hundred dolls, staring ahead without eyes from nuts, knots and pearls. Only three had no eyes.

_

* * *

_

_A/N : A friend recommended Serial Experiments Lain a while back, and another friend recommended Neon Genesis Evangelion. In the time since my last post and this chapter I watched both. Blame these beautiful animé for the weird chapter I produced here._

_Concerning Sarah's prior death, in present day it already is possible to keep a body alive for months after the brain is dead, so using a corpse as a host for a drone is entirely acceptable and possible. Reanimation in this way will definitely be possible five hundred years into the future, given that the body was preserved well for the time it was kept in storage. However, there is a certain chemical in the brain that causes the synapses the die very quickly, to disintegrate in a way. Since there were taken no precautions to preserve her brain, the scientists are surprised that when they reanimated her corpse she actually woke up._

_Well, this chapter is out of the way now, so I can finally continue; this one'd been bugging me for a looong time._


	15. Womb Wall

_A/N : For those who care, this story is still alive. I actually had this chapter done for a few months, I just forgot to upload, sorry._

**Chapter 15 : The Womb Wall  
**

_March 25, 2578_

_Location : Enigma II, Research Station of Xenomorphic Entities._

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Drops of the cooling system were all over the catwalk, causing it to be slippery. Sarah was holding her compad close and looked around, insecure. It was dark here and frustratingly maze-like and if it hadn't been for the little guidance wasp buzzing ahead of her, she would have been lost. Not that she wasn't lost to begin with, be it in a different way.

What had happened when she woke up was a blur of confusion. Apparently, she'd been out for two days and something must have been decided in that time, because she hadn't taken one step back into her room or she had been thrown out by a security cyborg. Having been given the message that her possessions had been moved to a chamber all the way down to level 18, she'd been sent on her way. That was it. No more information.

After a countless amount of corners, several levels and elevators and one accidental slide, she ended up before a door like the others around here, however with the familiar label of "Maintainance". No surprise here, she'd been in such rooms often enough. She had her iris scanned and entered.

Inside were the sole two non-scientist workers on the ship, though Sarah's addition made their number three. A quick glance brought the disorderly looking man back to her memory as Jay Something, they had exchanged a few words in the past. The other she'd only seen from a distance, and upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a man after all, just a tad feminine in appearance.

The latter had not noticed her yet, but Jay had heard the beep of the door opening and approached her. He looked her over, then spit something into a nearby container. "Got demoted again, ey?" At the sound of his voice the other man looked up, taking two little microphones out of his ears as he did so. He glanced at her briefly, but gave her no vocal acknowledgment yet.

"Why am I here?" Sarah said, forcing her face to stay smooth.

Jay breathed in deeply. "Are you you ready for some info-dumping?"

"Does my question give any other impression than need for knowledge?"

"Other impressions...hm, fear perhaps?" He shrugged. Raising his hand, he signed her to follow. At the other end of the room was a second exit. This was odd, for such a small place to have two exits the way they were positioned. Behind her, she heard the yet un-introduced person get up.

The second door led to a series of antechambers and then a hall, which they passed across a catwalk. This was one of the cooling chambers, sometimes partially flooded with water. A second oddness in the construction of this place, usually maintainance rooms were not located so close to generators.

Halfway the catwalk, Jay stopped and turned around. Sarah startled to a halt.

"Alright. Miss Donovinh, Nuitar cannot hear us here. But before you begin asking questions, let me make one things straight. What you see in here, it stays within your mind when you go beyond that maintainance room again." he said, making a vague motion in the direction they had come from.

Sarah nodded, but did not say anything. Jay seemed to become uncomfortable by this, as she was not acting like he had expected. "Aren't you going to ask anything?"

He was given a blank look in response. "I have time. Give me a tour." One part of her mind screamed for answers, but she felt strangely stubborn, for whatever reason. Or perhaps it was simply nice to act in an unpredictable way, however small it may be.

Jay shook his head and started to walk again. "Women." she heard him mutter.

The second person stepped past Sarah too, but stopped short in front of her. Without turning, he said :"Come." Almost a woman's voice, too.

Sarah followed the two in silence for a while and Jay indicated some rooms of importance. Most were names she was unfamiliar with, hardware was not her territory. They were close to a simple nuclear generator, controlled by a corporation of Nuitar and Utara, that much she understood. For whatever few things the programs could not do, they had the two humans at their disposal. She absorbed the information indifferently, until one phrase fell out of place.

"And this place is only other who is allowed to come down here is doctor Sullivan, but he's gone as you know."

Sarah processed this quick enough, why would only Sullivan and two workers be allowed here, and now he was gone who was there to forbid it? Didn't the new head scientist come here? Then why did Sullivan have to come here?

"Excuse me, what?"

"Took ye long'nough to become curious." said Jay. "Donovinh, you've been placed for termination."

Sarah suppressed her shock, but wasn't quite successful. The other man shook his head softly. "Do not worry." he said.

"When your interaction-bit with that thing, Syvé, became a proved fact, Nuitar send a high protocol report of the situation to Enigma Prime. I don't know what happened over there, but apparently there has been negotiation with Utara and you have been relocated here instead."

Sarah grew increasingly puzzled, after all this time of telepathically perceiving the world around her, it felt distinctly disturbing to not be aware of so much.

"You've got a new job, Donovinh, you get to pick up Sullivan's legacy."

They stood on yet another typical catwalk. Jay pointed briefly to the end of it, there was another door. "I'm not going in there without having to, Bison'll show ye."

The quiet man already made his way to the door and Sarah briefly peeked into Jay's mind, but found the same blockade as Jonah had, it hindered her from perceiving anything but shallow thoughts. He took the same drug, had the same implant to lame the telepathic area of the human brain.

Sarah quickly caught up to the other man, named Bison apparently. Jay stayed behind and after a while he walked away.

Bison opened the door without a word and entered, holding it open for her. It hadn't been locked, nor were there any scanners here. Apparently, Utara was in enough control of this area to be certain of her visitors.

Inside the dark chamber, a wave of pain washed over Sarah and she cringed back against the now closer door. Bison looked at her sadly. "Oh, you're that sensitive?"

Both Sarah's hands went to her forehead and she breathed in deeply a few times, building up defenses against this flood. "It's...nothing..." She closed her eyes for a moment. "...nothing I haven't felt before...I just wasn't prepared..."

Straightening up, she looked the man wearily in the eyes. "What's this place?"

"This is Utara's future brain." said the man with a weak smile.

Sarah's eyes grew wide, at first she didn't understand but there really wasn't much to not understand. "She wants an upgrade to organism?" she asked.

"Biomechanics are perfect for it, would you not say?" said Bison. "Sullivan's untimely death has stalled the process and me and Jay do not posses enough knowledge about where hardware and software becomes the same. You do not either. Not yet, perhaps never."

Sarah understood, the nano-bodies that Noasyvé had released in her to upgrade her...

"What is expected of me?"

Bison switched on the light. It revealed a room with several cryogenic containers and a door to further quarters. In the middle of the room was a large container, open and empty. "You are expected to learn how to control the alien biomechanica. Sullivan had the knowledge. You have your instincts and are expected to gain the knowledge."

"What does Utara want with a brain anyway?"

Bison shrugged. "Wouldn't a soul want a real body?"

"That's all you have to say? Who knows what it might become! As if it'd have a soul..."

"You do not talk kindly of someone who has taken good care of you." said Bison, his formerly calm eyes showing scorn. "You live because of Utara."

"I live because of Noasyvé and Jonah."

Bison shook his head softly. "By no means do I say Syvé and Utara are the same party, but there is the mutual need they have for a drone such as you. Perhaps they play into each-others needs."

Sarah clenched her teeth. "I am not a drone."

Bison still shook his head, almost not noticeable. "You certainly are no human. The human known as Sarah Donovinh died in the hangar of this station. Human bodies do not re-awaken from death. But to sooth you, would you rather have it I were to call you, and all of us, pawns?" No less of a subtle way to put it.

When she did not respond, he motioned her to follow him to the next room. The lights were already on as they entered, revealing a circular room with several empty tubes lined along the walls. One of them contained liquid and inside was a rather familiar shape.

"The prior room was for storage and initiating a certain type of radiation immunity in the future test subjects. If they hatched successfully, they would be stored here until a new cocoon was readied."

"Cocoon?"

"A little gift of Syvé. It is an alternative to hosts, though extremely dangerous and difficult to grow. For matter, growing xenomorph drones tap into the dark matter of the universe. These cocoons do the same, but need guidance. As you can expect, Utara does not deem the humans above skilled enough to deal with it, with the exception of Sullivan."

Sarah lingered at the door and still peered at the one tube that was filled. It was almost as if...

"It will awaken soon enough, for the same reasons you have awakened." said Bison while stepping towards it. He made a few seemingly random motions and arms came from the wall. These took hold of the tube and loosened it from the wall, into light.

The fetus inside was unmistakably Lemura. "Killing it was the only way to get it away from Jonah. Utara used nano-bodies obtained from your tissue to ensure it would awaken again. Considering it is regenerating quite fine, I'd say Syvé does not object to the use of it."

Sarah was with her hands on the glass within seconds, peering into it and mentally reaching out, desperately probing the small mind for any response. There was nearly none...just the tiniest bit of activity. "What if she...why?" If anything remained of Sarah's mask of indifference, then it was gone now.

Bison looked a little surprised at the sudden worry on her face. "It...she will waken up, really. Just trust them."

"But why? Why is she here?"

"For her to be learned from and in case you disappear as well. I think you'll agree to helping her grow, won't you?"

Sarah pulled a little back from the glass. "Off course." She smiled for the first time in ages. "Off course."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_April 10, 2578_

Sarah stroked her fingers softly across the cocoon's slimy shell and her face lit up as she felt movement for the very first time.

"Some people...would find that gross."

Sarah shrugged. "People like you?"

"No, just people."

Sarah turned a little away from the cocoon and sat down, her legs dangling over the edge of an older cocoon's hold. Many meters below, half hidden under cocoon remnants, she could see Bison in his protection-suit. Somewhere beyond in a control room was Jay. He took care of information and machine control. Everything down on this level was very primitive in software, an extra ensurance to keep Nuitar from hacking into it. Well, perhaps primitive wasn't the word. Just...more biomechanic.

Bison started to climb a nearby ladder, coming close past Sarah. "Anything I can help you with?" she asked.

"No."

It was damp in the hall, always dripping. Sarah was reminded of natural hives, at least hives such as Syvé would build...they weren't Sarah's own memories. Still, it was a nice association. While this area was far from organic in nature, Sarah had started to notice how there was a pulse of sort in it. It blocked out Noasyvé's call a little, even. Not that Utara would ever be as psionic as the ancient mother, Sarah was sure of that. Syvé even when dormant was far greater than this ugly program.

Said program was on their side, however, and had given her the most gorgeous of gifts, the ability to help Lemura. The little creature began to remind her more and more of Kirindi, though she was far more intense. But perhaps that was just what it felt like in comparison; after all, Sarah had had no psychic ability at all when she boarded the Philidon.

The cocoon gave off another small tremor. Lemu inside wanted to know what happened.

"Bison! What exactly are you doing up there?" she shouted up the cocoon wall.

The answered came muffled at first, but then clearer. "Veins growing over one of the arms." Sarah relayed the information to the unborn. Lemu was doing quite well in absorbing new information. As time had passed on since Lemu had re-awakened, Sarah had been drawing parallels between this one and what little she could recall of Kirindi. In one regard, she didn't find a similarity, Lemu seemed to be able to reason beyond instinctive logic. Such as now, when responding with understanding why the arms needed to be cleaned even if she did not agree.

"Hm..."

An high-pitched squeak jerked Sarah out of her musings. "Yikes!" She automatically reached for her ear. Since she was no longer required to wear a protective suit, Jay had designed a communication system which consisted out of a little device attached to her ear. Unfortunately for Sarah, he didn't care too much about details like squeaks when initiating contact.

"I'll fix that some time, promise." She heard him grin at the other end and rolled her eyes. "I anxiously await that day." she said, just to humor him. Then serious :"What is it?"

"Check out that cocoon down to the right if ye will. I'm getting some odd readings from it."

Sarah nodded. "Alright." She climbed off the ridge while mentally asking Lemu whether she'd noticed anything. Sarah didn't get too much chance to spend mind on her lately, so perhaps she had missed something? Lemu said that the content of the other cocoon sometimes would just jerk whenever someone was around.

" - Someone? Define that please. - " Lemu couldn't yet.

Sarah climbed across the root-like anchors of the older cocoons and reached a small active one. It still radiated with activity, Sarah could feel the energy it drew from the world around, either creating mass or importing it from other layers of the dimension. They needed this one for some of its organs. Sarah tried not to think of the pain it would have to go through when it was ready for harvesting and instead concentrated on its developing mind.

Such a simple drone was next to no challenge to break into. Without their queen's calling, the regular drones were rather vulnerable to influence and she knew exactly where the control organ was located. She settled on a stable root right above the drone, making sure not to come too close.

Jay was correct, the creature inside was stirring unnaturally early. When placed in these cocoons, it would take longer for a drone to reach full size and they couldn't come out on their own because of a sedation of sorts. This one didn't seem too sedated though.

"It is moving not like it should, but I cannot say why yet. Could they become immune to the waves?"

"Adapt? I doubt it, according to Sullivan it plays in on the most basic rythms of their neurological pattern. They'd have to be evolving, but there are no hosts."

"But you don't call it impossible."

"I've been on this place for over seven years now, Vin. I learned that impossible is a stupid, stupid word. Improbable on the other hand..."

Sarah sighed. "I get it, I get it. Could I take a look at the stats when I come down?"

"Sure, as long as you don't touch anything."

Sarah groaned in annoyance. "It's not my fault plastic teacups and acid don't go together, okay?"

She tried once more to find any reason for the growing drone to stir, but came up blank. With a sigh, she climbed back to the cocoon with her friend in it.

There was motion again in Lemu's cocoon. Perhaps it was the chimera's presence that made the growing xeno stir? Now she thought of it, that could be it. She leaned a little against the cocoon. It was over a meter long, it could easily support her entire weight, but she was still careful with it. Laying her ear against it, she listened.

More motion.

"- Lemu? -"

Sarah looked at the cocoon puzzled for a moment, then grinned. "If you're ready already..."

She softly started to tap the shell where she sensed softer spots. The drumming would loosen up the "muscles" of the cocoon, making it easier for the unborn to break through. She'd done it before with other cocoons if they were in trouble, and though Lemu's birth felt to go well she still wanted to speed it up.

The vague movements inside became more sensible as she continued drumming while she felt less of the cocoon itself, Lemu was detaching from it, crawling to the edges through the thick goo inside. Sarah learned the unborn was a lot smaller than the drones this cocoon type was meant for and became worried for a moment she wouldn't be able to make it out at all. But Lemura had a lot of strength too.

Eventually the muscles of the cocoon gave in and it opened up right in front of Sarah, who was practically on it with her face. As such, the splash of goo hit her headfirst and she tumbled back, tripping off her footing and downward to the floor it was; she'd been a little bit to preoccupied guiding Lemura out to predict that.

A sharp pain shot through her back as she hit the floor, even though the rooty growths covering it damped the fall a bit. She quickly dulled the pain by partially blocking nervous perception from her back, she wasn't in the mood for this.

Somewhere above she sensed a surge of panic; Bison no doubt. She tried to move, but found herself unable to.

"-Momentary paralyzed due to immediate shock to body, nothing abnormal.-" she recited in her head.

"-Lemu?-"

The mental call was responded to by a tiny hand clutching Sarah's clothing. She was out. Sarah mentally cursed being paralyzed right now, she wanted to look up and see what her little one had become. Right now, she couldn't even see the ceiling, all sorts of goo was covering her. Great.

Something odd hit her then. She felt Lemu's hand clutching her arm, but nothing else. Lemu, she had to sit on her stomach, but she felt nothing. Sarah deblocked her nerves and a vague pain flooded in, but she still didn't feel any weight on her.

And then things slowly started going black...

Last she recalled was Lemu's confusion.

- - - - - - - - - -

Jay leaned his chin on his crossed arms and looked at the other end of the table. Bison meticulously cleaned the ugly little ball of white flesh as if it did not repulse him at all. The former couldn't imagine himself touching that thing with such a calm face, especially not in a situation such as this.

Bison continued his work steadily, the creature made no objectioning movements. It was almost like a ragdoll, a very ugly and waxy one. At some point, Bison set down the towel and looked up at Jay, the creature in his bare hands.

"Would you please make yourself useful and go check on Sarah?"

"Wha? Why allof'de sudden?"

"I think she may be waking."

Jay looked from Bison's face to the closed eyes of the little chimera, then back at the human. "Oh crap, tell me that thing isn't talking to ye?"

Bison sighed. "I had no reason to deny the information she gave me."

Jay's face contorted. "You're becoming one of them."

Bison stared back calmly. Jay grinned and threw his arms up. "Oh what the heck, why not." He then stood up and left the control room.

Several rooms down was another maintainance room, they had placed Sarah there. Five hours of remodeling their robots had allowed them to safely transport her to a that location, it was the best they could do with what they had.

Upon entering that room, Jay turned the dim light a little brighter. Sarah seemed to sleep. "Stats, Utara?"

"The same as before." came the reply. "Did you expect otherwise?"

Jay shrugged, and felt relieved that Bison had been imagining things. He skipped across the room and looked over their arrangements, trying to figure out a way to improve things. Their make-shift bed wasn't exactly the best and they needed a lot more supplies. All without the doctors above finding out.

His first impulse had been to call the sickbay, but Utara had refused to relay the message. The scientists working above were not allowed to know of the proceedings down below and at the moment there were no plausible explanations possible that committed the existence of the hatchery wall.

"Why are you sneaking around like that?"

He startled a bit.

"Sarah, you're awake?"

"You sound surprised."

She wasn't facing him, but she had moved her head, he could see it in the pillow.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like limbo. Bison seems to get along with Lemu."

Jay chuckled unintentionally. "Yeah, that geek would."

"What's wrong with me?"

"You can't tell?"

"Excuse me for half my body being paralyzed."

"I'm sorry, normally you seem quite aware of your functionality."

"Just tell me what is wrong, okay?"

"You broke your back."

"... shit, we're in deep trouble."

Now she faced him and he grinned at her. "Heck yes we are. Utara already halted the production of new eggs, till we know when you're back on your feet. I trust your little mutant nanothings can fix you up?"

"Jay, a broken back isn't quite the same as altering the functions of a one lung and keeping the brain intact. I've lived breathing on my spare lung for a dozen days, but I only have one spine to go with."

A silence fell.

Utara spoke up then :"Can you provide a time of restoration?"

Sarah softly shook her head. "No, sorry." Jay noticed a sad expression, though he couldn't phantom for what reason she'd dislike being off of work.

"I shall terminate the current drone. It's stats are erratic." said the bodiless voice.

"Yes, do that. We don't know who else is here, so..."

Jay's head jerked back up. "What?"

"Just before, Lemura said that the drone responded to someone's presence, but she did not know whom."

As she said that, Jay started fidgeting with his sleave. "Utara, you've got the entire section under total control, correct?" At his anxious voice, Sarah looked at him.

"She doesn't. She just thinks she does." Sarah closed her eyes and sighed, not wanting to see Jay's increasingly panicking expression.

Sarah made a mental note to lose consciousness more often, as it allowed superior functioning in otherwise less active brain parts. Frankly, she was creeped out by the experience herself, it had been almost as if she'd walked around the site instead of being unconscious. So much random information, but it started ordering itself now.

For one thing, there were several hallways and passages that she could not recall from Utara's maps. Codes, wires, information, cyberspace... if minds could hurt, hers was definitely doing so.

Returning her gaze to Jay, she raised the one arm she could still use. "Hey, calm down, okay? It's still the same as before. Can you bring Lemu to me please?"

"How can you even say that? I've lived for years believing Utara was the master of the game, and now you tell me she isn't?" He rolled his eyes, rocking his back against the wall.

"You don't need to believe me. Please bring Lemura to me, she's calling."

"Not advised, you are not in a state to take care of anything." said Utara.

"You shut up." Sarah said. "Jay, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah, just give me a moment. I need to...you're either lying or...if not..."

Sarah sighed heavily and felt a sting of pity for the man. He was a bit like Schrüder had been, though less worn and over a longer period.

"Utara, ask Bison to bring Lemura here. You just heard me, you do not know everything about this place. Bring her to me and together we'll be able to find out more."

"Negative. I am in control. It is more likely your mind malfunctions from shock."

"No it doesn't." Sarah spat.

Jay suddenly pushed off the wall and went to the door, lingered there and fingering the key panel. "Uhm, I'll be back later, Vin, just need to...darnit...just..." Then he was gone. He didn't know what to believe.

"Alone again, good." whispered Sarah. "Turn down the light please." Utara complied, and Sarah waited.


	16. Human Game

_A/N : I hate this chapter._

* * *

**Chapter 16 : The Human Game**

_April 10, 2578_

_Location : Enigma II, Research Station of Xenomorphic Entities._

"Jay!"

"Oh crap, it already talks."

Two pairs of wide opened eyes stared at each other from opposite ends of the table. Jay was anxiously fingering his sleeves, and after a while Lemura started to mimic has actions by fingering the table edge. At this point, Jay abruptly stood up and walked away from the table to start pacing the room. "Darnit, Bison, why'd you have to leave me with this thing?" he muttered.

Lemura never blinked, never let her eyes off him. He was the only moving thing in the room, and she was bored. It must know where Sarah was, but she could not get into its head. She pushed herself a little higher, in sitting position she could barely peek over the table's edge, and the moving thing was so curiously increasing and then decreasing in height. How did it do that?

"Jay!" she said again, her voice sounding like a dry breath. The old sound only worked to unnerve the human even more, as it come from such a tiny, baby-like thing.

"Jay!" She raised higher again, leaning on the table edge as she did so.

"Darnit, Bison!"

Lemura tried to find suitable information concerning this Darnit Bison thing, but once again could not get into the body's mind. Darnit Bison was probably the other body. They had both taken Sarah somewhere and the Darnit Bison entity had said the word Jay sometimes, which was like a code word to get the Jay body's attention. Lemura concluded that the two bodies had to communicate by sounds. An odd thing. Sarah had made sound, but that was soothing, not communication. But regardless, Lemura wanted to see Sarah and hence had to learn to communicate with the two stupid bodies.

"Jay!" Why didn't it respond like it did to the other body? She probably did something wrong.

The longer Lemura stayed awake, the more active she felt herself becoming. The numb form she'd been yesterday was all but gone, she felt she could cross the room anytime and stop the body from moving like it did, someway. The shrinking and rising as it walked to the other end of the room and back. It was...annoying? Sarah had found it annoying when the Jay body did so in the past.

She continued watching it silently, until the door opened and Bison stepped in, clutching his wrist a bit. Jay stopped pacing, saying :"Wha happened?"

Bison smiled a bit embarrassed. "I suggested to her we get rid of her clothes since they're covered in junk but she wouldn't believe that I could do so without seeing anything. Well, at least one of her arms is entirely functional." Rolling up his sleeve, he went to the sink and let some water run over his wrist.

"Can't we just bring that...thing there down? I'm sure Sarah can make it figure out how to take of her."

"You know what Utara says."

"Bison, neither of us is qualified to take care of a heavily injured person!"

"Darnit Bison!" said Lemura with a rasped breath.

The man at the sink looked up in surprise, first glancing at the chimera for a moment, then at Jay.

"It can talk now."

"I noticed."

"Darnit Bison!"

Bison sighed. "Jay, come on, I'll explain you a few things."

Lemura sank down on her chair as the two men left. In the distance, Sarah's presence remained unchanged, until there was a minor prod.

Lemura tilted her head slightly. Sarah wanted...her to go listen to the two bodies. They were communicating, but because neither of them could get into their heads she'd have to go listen to their mouth-words.

The men stood too close to the door for her to go out that way. The ventilation shafts were all securely sealed. The food delivery shaft however was perfectly accessible for a small creature such as Lemura. She half leaped, half fell off the chair, and crawled towards the wall. Sarah guided her to find the control panel and she jumped up, clutching at the wall to stay up. She then typed the code transmitted to her.

Shortly, the delivery chamber opened and Lemura pulled the can of liquid out and replaced it with herself. The hatch closed and Lemura curled to a ball. It was a funny sensation to her, as the container raced back at the storage chamber, she could feel every little tremor of the road.

Having arrived there, she popped out just before a machine-arm propped in the next part of the delivery. Lemura curiously looked around, wanting to investigate all the odd smells here, but Sarah urged her to go on.

The storage chamber wasn't sealed for the simple reason that during work, Jay liked to sneak in and snatch something along, so Lemura slipped out easily and ran down the halls back to the main maintainance room. Occasionally she'd fall and roll over, something she found amusing.

"Attention. The chimera has left the maintainance room." said Utara.

"What the heck? How?!" came from around a few corners. Lemura felt Sarah becoming utterly annoyed, where ever she was.

"Jay, calm down. Utara, where is she?"

"Two corners to the right."

Lemura sat still as she heard the man approach. Bison appeared around the corner, looked down for a moment then lifted her up.

"Sorry Sarah. If you're going to eavesdrop on us..."

Very much annoyance from Sarah's side. Lemura frowned, this wasn't wanted.

Bison walked back, finding Jay rather anxious. "How the heck did it get out?" he said again.

"By ordering food." said Utara.

"Sarah probably guided her to it."

Lemura tried to turn in Bison's hands, looking up at the body's face. He was amused, she recognized that expression. The other body was afraid of something, she could tell from its face too.

"Darnit Bison!" she said.

"Okay, we'll bring her to a secure room and then we'll figure out how to fix our current situation."

"I say we let that thing take care of Sarah and stay away from both of them."

"I just told you...

The two bodies engaged into a loud noises and Lemura absorbed then, transmitting them to Sarah, but Sarah found nothing useful in it. It only caused her to be more annoyed. The body holding her was getting aggravated too, his grip tightened. The afraid body was starting to show frustration too. She didn't need to get into their heads to be affected by it all.

The body holding her was keeping her away from Sarah, she concluded. Lemura tensed up and relaxed all her muscles, then let instinct do its work. She opened her mouth and bit down. Ripping right through the cloth, her teeth soon found a soft wet substance. On a belated reflex, a muscle far in the back of her mouth tensed up and ejected forward.

The noises made by the bodies increased intensely and for a moment she felt alarmed, then the strange calmness returned. She pulled back her tongue and clawed up the arm, searching for the head. That annoying head she couldn't get into. She reached up a deceptive frail hand and dug into the neck.

There was that sense of alarm again, her instinct had her ignore it. Wanted to get rid of that locked head that could turn itself off and on. She opened her mouth right away one of the wide open eyes, but before she could strike something grabbed her tail. The brief sensation of weightlessness was soon followed by a slam against a wall. She saw the other body, it had thrown her. Did not like that. Had been busy with something.

Then, a door slid closed between her and the two bodies, and two more far to her right and left. The intersection she was on was now locked, no exit. Lemura slumped to the ground, feeling a little confused.

"Sarah."

"-Sarah?-"

The sense of alarm she'd felt earlier now started to come back, come back very strongly. It had been Sarah, trying to tell her not to do that. Lemura didn't understand it at all. Why not do that? Why had she done it if she should not do that?

Conflicting interests, the difference between will and instinct were yet unknown territory to her. Sarah did not know how to explain it.

What remained to Lemura was a aimless sadness.

The following days passed in an odd style. Several of the new-growing xenomorph were delayed or terminated as their prime tracker was inactive right now and the mechanic was walking around with a wounded neck and penetrated arm. This left most of the work to Jay. First thing on his list was to put that chimera somewhere safe. Utara said that under no condition should the chimera be let near Sarah was exactly the reasons he had seen earlier, and would not listen when Jay claimed it wouldn't have happened if they'd brought the thing right to Sarah.

By opening and closing doors, Lemura was coaxed towards an empty hall from which she couldn't get out. After that, Jay had gone down to Sarah to modify the mechanical arms in the wall and had found her in an unusually confused state. He resolved that with a sleep-injection...from which she didn't wake up after the supposed six hour duration.

Something else did happen after two days. The distinct growing of biomechanical veins over the mechanical arms they'd just installed in the room. Five days after the incident, the room couldn't be opened anymore. On this new development, Jay remarked that he didn't like Utara's ideas at all.

* * *

Head in his hands, Jay sat at the table in the maintainance room. Bison was...somewhere. He didn't know, didn't care. While not the first time things were a little gloomy around here, it was the first time they'd lost full control of the biomechanical happenings. 

His head muled over everything and came nowhere. For years on end he had managed to avoid the thoughts of his life before Enigma II, now they welled up. When was the last time he'd seen lights that weren't an alarm? Flashy lights had been associations of amusement in the past, going to bars, little blinking lights that indicated your cheap drink was coming up now, the crosswalks, the traffic lights...it struck him as odd, Sarah had mentioned that before being charged with Lemura, she had spent her free time learning new things about planets and nature and cultures. Jay only want back to the streets and crosswalks and cheap liquor. He managed a half-assed grin to himself. As a romantic he failed and he knew it. Reality was here now...

He fumbled with his sleeves and stood up, sat back down and stared ahead. Then he stood up and knocked the chair back. It toppled to the ground with a clatter and he reached to pull it back up.

The chair slipped from his fingers, balanced unevenly, then fell onto its four legs and stood.

His index finger lingered on the back of the chair. Slowly he started to push against the plastic, until it fell once more.

The clattering sound repeated itself. He reached down again and pulled the chair up. Again his finger lingered on the back, but now his entire hand clamped around it and he forcefully pushed the chair down. It slit a little distance from him, he stood and stared at it emptily. Hesistantly he walked over to it and again reached down. This time taking the chair with both hands, his knuckles turned white from pressure. He gritted his teeth and let go, then kicked the chair away as hard as he could, a half-assed scream escaping him.

He stood paralyzed, stared at nothing, then realized he acted like an idiot. It was a chair, for crying out loud. A piece of plastic. He couldn't even kick it very far. And he wasn't a monkey, to scream like that. He was...

"I've got to ...I've got...this has to stop, darnit."

* * *

Lemura looked at the dull walls. Well, she didn't actually look, since it was dark and her eyes were not much good anyway. But she could sense it through electromagnetism a lot better now, and she practiced her echo location. Sarah had told her to do so. Until... 

Until now.

A door opened.

She did not turn yet, wanting to guess who it was. Ah, Jay. She concluded sadly she had not identified him through either of her two xenomorphic senses, but because he smelled very unwashed. The Bison body had a far more unnatural odor.

A door closed.

The body was even more conflicted mentally than before, she could tell from the aura. It had one of those so called chips, but it did not stop the aura of the body from being readable. Sarah was too far away for that so she inquired softly with the information she perceived.

The lights turned on.

Sarah sent her a panicked message. Move! Lemura obeyed calmly, leaping away unstably. A loud noise was heard behind her. Jay was very close. She screeched softly and received a blurred echo. The Jay body was holding a large sharp tool. It had attempted to hit her with it. Apparently, it was a danger now. She considered biting it like she had done with the other.

Jay said something. She had no idea what.

Sarah contacted her strongly, spurred her to move her body faster. There were racks with weird stuff on it, she moved behind them. Panic, panic, Sarah was panicking. Her body was moving accordingly, but her brain did not yet release the associated chemicals. She asked Sarah whether she should try this "panicking". Sarah said it was perfectly okay if she did not. Instead, she should try to disable Jay.

For Lemura, it was nothing but a simple execution of orders, a welcome exercise. Her body did not move as well as it should, yet, but her instinct kicked into high gear. She climbed up the racks, the man threw them over. His aura was full of raging emotions, once again something Lemura was unacquainted with. A defect, she wondered.

The man tried to hit her with the object repeatedly, Sarah clearly indicated this was to be avoided. She obliged. Her legs did not carry her well, but the emotions of the Jay body was also a hindrance to itself, it appeared. How else could it move so erratic and uselessly?

Lemura rolled across the floor, inches away from Jay, right after he'd knocked over yet another piece of junk. Something heavy. Yes. Something heavy, hit the body on the head. How easy. The human practically posed for it with that huge body. She skitted across the floor, feet trying to stamp her in the process.

One hit. Pain shot through her body and the room came in sharp lines back to her ears as she screeched. She felt and heard the sharp object come down and twisted an arm up, jamming her fingers into a tiny spit in the ankle. Successfully.

Pain was obnoxious. As she ran for the rack she had in mind, she tried to figure out how to have her nervous system stop sending her messages of obsolete information. Climbing the rack was painful too, and she realized the information was not entirely obsolete, she had been damaged.

Loud mouth noises from the Jay body. He came in fast. She went higher. He tried to pull the rack, but this one was too heavy. He tried climbing after her. It was not heavy enough, but he pushed off fast enough to not be crushed under it.

Lemura was now located behind him. Falling had induced more pain. It was obnoxious, but she ignored it. Near her was a small cilinder, maybe as long as a finger. Sarah instructed her precise movement, she completed it.

The human forehead has is a pressure point right above the nose, hit it correctly and you can knock one out. Doing such with machine particles from just two meters is particularly difficult if one does not have an exoskeleton and superhuman three dimensional senses, so it is not recommended one relies on this for survival. Blunt objects are preferable for regular humans. Especially when they charge at you in rage.

Jay fell with a smack down. Sarah's panic thingy stopped. Lemura was particularly curious now, the disabling of the Jay body seemed to be a distinct alteration of the situation. What now?

Lemura fiddled with her long fingers as Sarah sent her instructions, but slowly stopped doing that. Then she stood up and crept closer, hesitant. Sarah told her to do something complicated and she wasn't sure how to do it. So many movements she did not know yet. Sitting down at the back of the humans neck, she looked him over. Yes. Brain located here. She reached out and cut away the skin at the back of the head using her nails. But they were frail and started to break.

She waited momentarily for further instructions, then she spat a bit of drool on her fingers, which she then pushed into the wound she had just made, making a circling motion. The acid was not very strong and it took several doses of spit to get through the small metal plate that was there. Underneath it would be a chip with slightly biomechanical traits, intended to regulate and particularly dull telepathic perception.

Ah, there it was. Now just to get it out without ruining the brain too much. This was nice, there were all these new things to do all of the sudden.

* * *

He felt like he was sleeping, but was aware of it. Opening his eyes was a struggle, but he eventually managed. Crawling up, he found himself on a warm smooth surface. A soft glow came from this surface and as he looked down at it, he saw himself, about five years old. 

A dream, something inside him remarked. Could a glowing surface reflect?

Nothing but darkness around.

"I'm bored." someone said.

"He'll come over soon. He can understand us now."

"Sarah?" But she sounded younger...

A soft whizzing sound filled the space. In the far distance, a soft light became visible with two forms obscuring it from above; another mirror like the one he was on. It was small, far off, yet he could hear the voices as if they were near already. As they drew closer, he could see it more clearly. Two humanoid forms, peddling with their arms in the nothing around the mirror.

Closer, until they were within his line of sight. A pudgy girl with blond hair and aside of her a thin girl with curly dark hair were on the mirror. The first was a little older, the other however maybe just three. Jay was a bit puzzled at the second person, then he realized it was Lemura.

"Took you long to come to us." said Lemura as she stopped peddling.

"I didn't..." he started, but stopped as a sudden smile appeared on the little girl's face, revealed a set of thin sharp teeth. Her eyes turned black too. Mentally, it creeped him out, but his body did not respond with fear for some reason. He remained perfectly calm.

Sarah had started smiling too, but her face stayed human. She breathed in deeply and said :"Are you you ready for some info-dumping?" she said, almost sounding upbeat.

Jay softly shook his head, making a dismissive motion with his hands. "I don't want to know about this all. I want to be left alone." At the sound of his voice, as old as it ought to be Jay looked down, but his reflection was still that of a child.

"But you came." said Lemura, still grinning.

"I did not!" he objected.

"You're here, you will hear it. We need help, but Bison did not come yet."

Jay hesitated. Was there any way he could decline and pretend he wasn't here? Where the heck was here anyway? He was in a big black void on a mirror. Clearly, this situation was not reality-adept.

Or maybe it was a small void. How would you define the size of nothingness anyway?

"Ah, there's the Jay we know, trying to puzzle things out. It was so unlike you, doing nothing over the past days. But I'd rather have you'd contemplate what I'm about to tell you, rather than the nothing."

Jay breathed in and realized there was no air. He was about to panic, then he understood.

"Alright. Shoot."

The two mirrors expanded until they touched, became one mirror. The three children sat on it in circle and remained silent for a moment.

"So?" Jay said.

"We are certain now. Utara caused it. How often did I climb the womb wall and slip, Jay?"

An obvious rethoric question, so Jay did not answer.

Lemura continued :"Utara, she is the walls and the arms of the walls. She pulled Sarah. You saw your monitor but did not see real. I saw. I did not know at first. I did not know much."

Jay frowned. "Why in the world would she do that?"

"Well then, now is my turn to info-dump. Noasyvé and Utara have had a relatively effective way of communicating with each other, mutually helping each other. Both of them are in a situation they do not want to be in, but both are selfish. Utara does not want Syvé to leave, for one thing. Syvé couldn't care less what happens to Utara. We're not sure what Utara does want, but she effectively turned me into a trump card."

"A set-up." Jay said dryly. "You're right, Utara requested additional back-up in containing the psychic activity of one of the queens...they... they didn't find anything in your body when you were dead, but now they would, right?"

"Indeed. Without Noasyvés influence the nanomachines attached to my DNA fell back on their original functioning, and my body reasoned that I had to heal fast to be able to reach Lemura. Once I come out of that cocoon, I will still look like a human, but if they were to have a closer look at my insides, well, then I'm toast. All evidence of Noasyvé doing something not allowed by Enigma Prime involved revealing that Utara too was doing things not allowed. But now, all Utara needs to do is send a cyborg down here, blow my brains out and have me dissected. Could be done well enough without revealing the womb wall or what you and Bison really do down here. A perfect trump card, Syvé needs me alive to escape because I am her only servant not based on silicones."

"And what do you need my help for?"

"I want you to continue raising Lemura when I'm gone."

"Wait, hold it, time out! You're leaving?"

Sarah looked momentarily surprised. "Ah, I'm sorry. I figured you might have seen the order already. Utara has requested Enigma Prime to arrange an expedition of a planet known as Kiyasumeni. You've heard of it I suppose?"

"No, I've...oh, yes. The dinosaur planet. Why the heck is she sending you to that place?"

"That's where the hybrid girls went, Lemura's mother and aunt. I've been there through dreams. Utara has been providing me with all information I requested during my time in the laboratories and I thought I had hidden my interest in that place well enough, but she might have measured my neurological responses. I've got a chip in my head too and did not manage to deceive it. It'll be disabled once I'm done transforming, but that's too late. Utara knows there is something on Kiyasumeni with the ability to lame her entire functioning. Maybe she just wants to know what it is, but I'm afraid she wants the androids and Kirindi and Ti'chai-di-"

"Hold it again!" Jay shifted uncomfortably. "Too much information. You visit the place in your dreams? Androids, Kirindi, Tishaidi? What the heck is this old age nonsense? I'm supposed to believe this all?"

"You're here. Does this type of awareness belong to a regular dream or a hallucination?"

Jay paused. No one spoke. He still saw the image of the two girls opposite of him, but could not recall for the life of it whether he'd just seen or heard them talking. What had been said he did remember...

"Yes, in a lucid dream one can reason like this and be aware, but not visit actual other places. The whole point of lucidity is that you create the world of your dreams. For whatever disturbed reason Utara would send you to a planet invested with dinosaurs, well, she's chasing a ghost!" he said, raising his voice.

"Denial phase?" said Lemura.

"No, but you guessed close, it's disbelief." said Sarah.

Jay stood up. "Telepathic activity has been proven to be limited to certain factors and you cannot cross the void of space, you can't cross the nothingness as there is nothing to transfer your energetic message! Let's not even mention the differences between the passing of time here and there! This is bullshit, this is..."

"Nothing does not exist." said Lemura, starting to grin again at the image of the small boy who became red with frustration.

"She means there is a fundamental force spanning the universe, we use that. Call it aether or dark energy if you will. It goes beyond hyperspace and wormholes. But I suppose we indeed do not have actual evidence."

The other two stood up as well. "Let us say, hypothetically, that there are indeed chimeras on Kiyasumeni and that they are not the result of my maddening mind or anything like that. I have no idea what will happen there, but let us presume things escalate. You and Bison need to be in tune with Lemura when that happens, because we will need help and you will need help too."

"You're asking me to join that hivemind of that thing, aren't you? I won't do it! You and all those things, you're not human!"

Sarah's face grew hard and she glared at Jay.

"Humans do not exist." said Sarah. "Roughly ninety percent of the human body consists out of factors not human. Water, bacteria, raw material, and even from what is part of the DNA most of it is junk, useless, contributing nothing to the form known as human. This is a scientific fact, Jay. If it's about 'racial purity', you'll be closer to home with us. I'm getting rid of my junk DNA as we speak, you know."

But Jay wasn't intend on changing his mind right now and shouted :"Oh quit that bullony, you know exactly what I mean."

"The human mind?" said Lemura. "Where? Where is a human mind?"

"Where?! You don't get it at all, do you?"

"There isn't any." said Lemura simply. She didn't smile anymore. Her face now looked much more human, but it was solemn.

"Alright then." said Sarah calmly. "I will tell you one more thing. Nuitar is down here too. Not as a program, but as a biomechanical lifeform. Him included, there are four forces playing on this station, Syvé, Utara, the humans and Nuitar. Utara and Syvé at this moment are an unsteady alliance, but this will not last. If you insist on trusting the human minds, you should go up and reveal what Utara is doing down here. That would mark you as unreliable though, for both the humans as for Utara. You'd be eliminated. The way things are-"

"Let me out of here." said Jay, his teeth gritted.

They ignored him. "Human nature dictates one seeks survival. If you play by human cards, you ought to seek the side that will actually care for your survival."

"Let me out! Now! Let me out! You're all the same, you're all monsters!"

* * *

Jay woke up with a start and a heavy headache. The world was spinning and he slowly became aware of a liquid covering his neck. Unsteady he tried to get up, but sank right back to the ground. Groaning, he muttered a few curses. 

A cold sound reached his ears. Twisting his neck he look ahead and saw Lemura. She had set a glass of water before him. Most of it had spilled as she had brought it there.

He stared at it blankly, she waited.

Eventually he pushed himself up and reached for it. He stopped in his movement.

"Utara?"

"Yes?" said the disembodied voice.

"What just happened?"

"It would seem the chimera is feeling threatened by the disability to access your mind. Your earlier behavior indicates repeated attempts to access your mind."

Did she know anything? You could never tell with machi- wait, who'd been trying to access him?

As Jay thought about it, he'd been acting like a lunatic before. Trying to kill Lemura for some reason, but it had seemed as if his thought pattern did not even match what he remembered after that.

"Utara, do such access attempts usually result in violent behavior?"

"No sufficient data." said the program.

_Nuitar is down here too._

Jay took the glass and drank it empty, trying to ignore the pain movement cost.

"What now, Utara?"

"I would suggest getting your wound treated with additional medication."

Unwillingly Jay reached to the back of his head. Blood all over, but also a strange sort of goo.

"_Sarah told me how to close it."_

Jay's eyes opened wide, then he remembered. Whatever the game, he would not want Utara to suspect anything of conspiracies, even if he did not intend to partake in them. He feigned frustration. If the darn A.I. could measure emotion responses as Sarah claimed it had done with her

"Eww, what is this crap?"

"Assumed, a restorative substance."

"Wha...?"

"It seems to not consider you an enemy. A possible hypothesis would be that it could perceive your emotions and therefore considers you a lifeform."

Hypothetically? The chip that had been in his brain for so long lay now in a bloodly little bundle a short distance from him. If what Sarah had told was true, then it could have been measuring all his neurological activity too. Great. There went any illusion of privacy he had ever had.

He stood up, staggered a little, then found his balance. His head was constantly treating him with sharp stings and moving his neck was a horror. The door opened for him and he went out.

About halfway between the storage room and his dorm, he noticed the shuffling behind him.

"Utara...?"

"The chimera poses no threat to you. You will ensure its health."

"No, that thing..."

"You will ensure its health."

He imagined it, but it was imagination based on experience when he thought that the A.I.'s voice sounded more threatening the second time. Utara rarely repeated orders.


	17. Fear Perhaps

**Chapter 17 : Fear Perhaps**

_April 18, 2578_

_Location : Enigma II, Research Station of Xenomorphic Entities._

**· · · · · **

The Enigma stations were spread across the domesticated galaxy far and wide, a tactical necessity in regard to certain government factions and publicity. As such, it was not questioned why only Utara had suggested experimenting with dinosaur DNA. Kiyasumeni was located nearest to her station after all. The suggestion was well received, but there were doubts about her request for an escort of the cyborg that were to retrieve DNA samples.

This was not the first, nor the second, nor the third civilian that had found their way into being employed by Enigma IV. While using "drifter material" was not uncommon when dodging the Fenrir Route's prying eyes, Enigma IV's civilians were a particularly odd bunch, all people who had been on the termination list at first, but survived due to "friendships" with other entities aboard, be they human, chimera or program. Still, there were questions regarding why Utara insisted Sarah Donovinh would accompany the mission. They were question only answered with a vague "the only one we can spare".

She was set to leave at the end of the month.

**· · · · · **

Sarah heard a loud crack and then gravity invited her to the floor.

She took the invitation with little grace.

She glared at the cocoon like construction above her, her feet were still on the edges of the hole. She had imagined being reborn through biomechanic means incited by an ancient lifeform to result in a somewhat more .... dignified arisal. Just why was the cocoon halfway up the wall?

She rolled away and curled up for a moment, feeling particularly.....fine. Perhaps the wrong word. Vital, but also stiff. Instinctively she breathed in...and started convulting. She coughed up liquid from her lungs till they were empty. After it was all out, she remained still for a while, looking ahead and ....

Wait...there was no light on. She wasn't even seeing anything. Yet the bed, the walls, the cocoon were all firm shapes in her mind, even when she wasn't facing them. Focussing only made the "image" sharper. This was new. Astral resonance was nothing compared to whatever the heck this form of perception was. Sarah could make a small bundle of awareness and travel through energy streams, but this was.....what?

An echo perhaps? Magnetism maybe.

She stayed still for a while, allowing her lungs to pick up functioning and her blood to start flowing normally, then she tried to crawl up.

"How are you doing?" said Utara as she did so.

"Heh. How about feeling manipulated and....gyaaaah!"

Unlike the mechanical voice, her own voice was surrounded with a hundred separate tones, screeching, whistling, humming. As a child she clutched her ears, but the sounds came from within. They echoed all over the surrounding too, neither that she could block out. It was as if every fiber of her body resonated to it. If only Syvé was awake enough to explain....this was chilling. She'd known pure telepathy was not all of the communication of Syvé's kin; it appeared before she'd been spared a pretty deal. Not anymore.

Once the sounds subsided, she started to become aware of Utara's voice again. The sound had been there all the time, she did hear it but her brain could not yet progress so much information at once.

Slowly the artificial words were repeated to her from memory :"I was not inquiring to your emotional state I inquired your physical state what is occurring what is occurring respond doctor Donovinh respond give a sign of what is wrong so that I may attempt to remedy it".

"I'm..." The sound welled up again, even on a single word. Sarah clutched her head and curled up. While it did not cause direct physical pain, the overwhelming information flowing into a brain not yet developed to handle it could be said to have the effect of such pain.

"Utara, let me talk to Syvé". Whispering did not help, again it happened.

"I have no authority to do such. Nuitar is in control of her section."

Sarah groaned in annoyance and promptly the wave came up again. She remained like that for a long time, minutes, and more minutes.

She started making small noises gradually, testing this new sense. It took long. Utara remained quiet for the time, safe for offering a pain killer once, which Sarah declined.

After uncounted time, Sarah whispered.

"Utara.....let's not play games."

No reply, other than her own inhuman echo.

"You .... you forced me to change. What do you want me to do at Kiyasumeni?"

"I will see what you see."

**· · · · · **

Roughly half an hour after Sarah's improvised rebirth, Bison stepped out of the elevator, a large bundle under one arm and a package of food in the other. Behind him, with some delay, Jay came stumbling and was muttering furiously about that blasted job he'd been given. Lemura was riding on his back in a makeshift bag and had clutched onto Jay's diminishing ponytail, her favorite toy and his current source of annoyance.

They had to wait for a long time before the door opened, Jay spending his time endlessly complaining, Bison painfully calm and Lemura chewing hair. When the door opened, Jay wasted absolutely not time removing the bag from his back and shoving it right into the arms of the emerging form.

Sarah blinked, then looked down at the bag. Lemura looked up and revealed a toothy grin, then softly slipped her arms around Sarah's neck like a little monkey. Sarah was still not quite up to date with the physical world, and only vaguely hugged back. She hadn't progressed fast enough they had arrived due to her new hearing and was butt naked.

"Uhm.......I'm going." said Jay after a stretched silence.

Sarah said nothing. This situation was ... not as awkward as it should have been, not from her point of view anyway.

"You are okay?" asked Bison, while trying to hand her the towel and clothes he had brought with his head averted. She took them from him, her other arm supporting Lemura. He noticed her flinching when he spoke.

"It's loud ...." she whispered, while rubbing the side of her forehead.

"What is?"

"Everything. The sound of the engines, the words we speak."

"I guess you're not okay ... I'm going around the corner. If you wanna get dressed first, .... or do you need to lie down?"

Sarah froze, then looked down at the things she was holding. Towel. _Clothes_.

"Ack!" She almost darted back into the room, but then remembered the hive material in there amplified the sounds even more, and hesitated before the door. Behind her she heard Bison round the corner, and starting to talk with Jay. Something about trying to be quiet .... not that it would help. But she found herself liking the idea of it.

She felt, almost heard Lemura's heartbeat, not a painful sound. She slumped against the wall and pulled her away from herself to look at the chimera. It was the first time she saw her in the flesh. Sarah had formed a mental image of Lemu, based on how Lemu projected herself mixed with memories of Kirindi. The real version looked a little less human. Sans the white skin over the exoskeleton and the deformed head, Lemu seemed more xenomorph than human. Sarah smiled at her, Lemura mimicked the motion, showing her set of fangs, similar to how Kirindi would sometimes grin.

"-Something of them after all-" she thought.

This wasn't their first meeting. In the dreamscapes they'd seen each other plenty, yet being here in the flesh was different still. No words, just rapid exchange of emotions and thoughts. It was so much easier, no longer hindered by electromagnetic barriers and mental suppression by unnatural machines.

"Hello there .... "

**· · · · · **

As they made their way upstairs, Jay asked almost casually, as if inquiring to the weather :"So, yer even less human now, eh? Got any new superpowers?" The tone of his voice was forcefully happy.

"Not that I'm aware off. I feel a lot more tremors of sound, but that's not so much power as annoyance."

"Yeah, sure. That's what always' said in the comics. You'll find some secret use to it." He laughed halfheartedly.

Sarah carefully reached out to his mind and realized just how bloody nervous he was, tensed like string and had had to restrain himself from hitting Lemura a few times after the past week.

"Thanks ...." she said.

"Hm?"

"For looking after Lemu."

"Didn't have much of a choice and I won't do it again, just remember that." Sarah considered mentioning Utara's plans, but decided for the time being, she'd just keep peace. So she turned to Bison. As he still had the chip, she could as ever only guess what went on in his head. She made a mental note to have it removed sooner or later, and let him into the hive.

" - _Our hive_ - " Lemura said silently.

_Our Hive_.

**· · · · · **

The days passed, which Sarah spent her free time almost entirely teaching things to Lemura. Specifically, survival things, how to take care of herself and what to do in case people came to get her. Utara assured her it would be futile if she really wanted to expose Lemura to the humans.

Utara claimed a fair deal of her overall time though, demanding she be prepared for the mission. Her physical status was to be pitied, and her internal make over didn't help much with her advanced muscle control either. Sarah wondered how she'd ever pass as being a suitable candidate for the retrieval mission, the way she was now.

Jay and Bison watched from the sidelines, keeping their distance. Sarah was disappointed that Jay now kept his distance, she had hoped he would've warmed up to Lemura to some degree. But little could be done about it.

Lemura had a lot to learn, Sarah didn't know where to start. Humans started pruning around age 11 and achieved full mental maturity around age 21, but she honestly had no idea how fast this worked with the xenomorph-human chimeras. Pruning, the act of cleaning up stray information in the developing brain, was something xenomorph didn't do at all, nor did they rearrange their neurological structure when growing. Lemura was ridiculously aware for what essentially ought to be a baby and even if she has a 'memory bank' in her genes that allowed her to develop quicker, but there was still no telling. Telepathy or not, she could not actually check on the physical status of the chimera's brain, and it was difficult to test since Lemura was so closely linked to Sarah.

This brought her to the next issue of worry. While she was away, and Lemura would be required to be independent, what would she act like? She couldn't prepare her for all situations. Lemura herself observed all Sarah's worries without judgment, trusting her to guide her and trusting herself to do as Sarah wished.

But that didn't do the trick for Sarah. As much as she hated it, she had to admit that perhaps she couldn't entirely trust the chimera, not yet. This too Lemura accepted without complaint.

Jay wasn't stable enough to handle a situation that went wrong. Sarah decided she needed to get Bison involved, he was a lot more level headed. Also, despite his implant he was able to receive very basic empathic impulses, so perhaps without control, he might evolve into quite a useful ally.

She decided to confront him about it in one of the cleaning chambers that led from the regular space to the Womb Wall. For a few minutes, disinfectant liquid was sprayed over the suits they wore, first of a process of three disinfection chambers. While technically the Aliens were not infectious, Utara had her reasons to have caution.

Painfully noisy as it was and with Utara suspecting she might be up to something, she made her way in. Bison, ever patient as he was, stood stock still and waited for some root bits to be picked off his suit by mechanic hands. Sarah came to stand near him, back turned to each other.

"Bison, listen. I've got something important to discuss with you."

"Sarah, not now. I have got a schedule to keep and my cleaning turn is almost over. We can talk about it during dinner."

She put her hand down on the internal control panel. "It's important."

"Is this cause we're in a zone where you think Utara can't hear us?" He looked vaguely irritably at the little specks of moisture that landed on his tools.

"I _know_ she cannot hear us, because I can't hear anything like a microphone or any sort of perceiver in here. Bison, you need to have the implant removed that blocks the clairvoyant area of your brain."

"Oh, indeed? Why?"

"So that you can communicate with Jay and Lemura without Utara noticing, and with me as well."

"No." he said simply.

She frowned, but didn't let it deter her. "We can't trust Utara and she can't trust herself. Something else is here that neither her nor the scientists know about and you need to be up to full capacity when something happens. You're on our side, aren't you?"

He looked incredulous, as far as she could tell through the visor of the helmet he wore. "Our side? Sarah, I work here, whether I like it or not. I try to survive. As long as I don't know everything, I have no sides."

"Don't you understand? Utara forced me to change so that she could use it against me. My insides are mutated, and if anything happens that makes her decide to expose me to the scientists and to Enigma Prime, you two are going down too cause you kept many things a secret."

"So, something will happen that will make her expose you, then? Will this happen while you're away from this station?"

Sarah was getting frustrated. "Look, I didn't choose for this, for any of this! Just .... haven't you seen what this place is like?"

One of the peculiar things about Bison was that despite his implant, he had some very minuscule sense of empathy, if only in noticing basic waves. Right now, he was noticing her despair, and potentially misinterpreting it.

"I have. I've seen the despair it pulls people into. I've seen them die by the mistakes it had them make. I survive by sticking to doing what I'm told, I can't obey two masters."

The young man fiddled with the small control panel that he tended to carry around. "I am sorry, I don't trust this affair with Noasyvé, nor you. Please accept that."

Sarah pressed her lips together and said nothing, watching his back as he walked away.

**· · · · · **

" - Enemy - "

Two days before departure, it happened.

" - You are .... you are my enemy - "

Sarah woke with a start. Looking around in the semi-dark, she neither heard nor saw Lemura. The everlasting thumping of the station, the vibration, but Lemura was nowhere nearby.

Why did she call enemy? Sarah leaped out of bed, shot some clothes on and nearly tripped on a few make-shift toys on her way out.

The chimera's thoughts were blurry, she couldn't tell at first where she was. Sarah just ran, overcome by a surge of panic of two, three sources.

" - Enemy - "

Violence ..... seething rage crept up from her sixth sense into her own mind. They were fighting, ..... Lemura was in pain. Where were they?

Clearer and clear the telepathic connection became, bringing her the mixed perceptions of both Jay and Lemura. The chaos distorted her own perception and she had to stop running. She'd gone too deep .....

Lemura knew nothing to be wrong .... Jay was savage ...... Lemura's killer instinct? He seemed to think so in any case, while Lemura only thought she'd done the right thing. So much blood ..... Bison?

Why had Lemura attacked Bison now? It seemed her fears came true, the chimera was developed a xenomorph's instinct and acted on it.

" - But he is my enemy! Not you! -"

This was spiralling out of control. Lemura was close to attacking Jay as well, he was hurting her somehow .... a pipe? Where from?

The room where they ate together. Table leg. She started running again. More blurs of memory flooded in, she tried not to figure out anymore what had happened, she had to reach them. She tried to call for Lemura and Jay to stop, to soothe them down, it was then that she realized it.

How long had Lemura been in Jay's and Bison's presence while she slept, irritating them but never with malice?

Their feelings bounced back onto herself and the images of Bison came into her mind again. Lemura hadn't attacked him out of the blue. He'd said something about food? He'd denied some weird cooking Jay had made. With a halfhearted laugh he'd said he didn't trust it ..... it was like a comical version of Bison saying he didn't trust Sarah. Lemura had been watching it, channeling it as usual.

Sarah had always thought Jay was a fun guy, while the stoic, unreadable Bison made her uncomfortable.

Family. Enemy. Bison had rejected to be Family, so now she had begun to feel about him as Enemy. No, maybe she had always felt that way. He was so difficult to read, so she hadn't trust him from the start.

Once again, Sarah's self-obliged mask of indifference broke.

_" - It is my fault_. - "

There was the dinner room, after what seemed ages. She broke her race, skirting to a halt just before she tripped over Bison. He was on the ground, his throat open, but she could hear his heart beating as it should.

In a corner stood Jay, table leg in his hand, hammer down at something that seemed to slip away again and again, but sometimes not quick enough, and a strain of blood accompanied the leg at such times.

Sarah lunged at Jay, but he noticed her coming from behind and whirled around, hitting her aside in blind rage. When he saw her he seemed to wake up a bit, but then he focused on Lemura again, who had scurried away farther. He paced after her quickly.

"Stop it, please!" Sarah cried out, struggling to her feet. Dangit, why couldn't she have gotten super strength from the transformation or something like that?

The man started to shake his head as he continued battering the ground where the chimera had been just a second before. "It needs to die! It attacked Bison again, it dug its fingers into my brain, what's next? It is going to die now!" He grinned madly, while continued in a muttering voice :"It just attacked out of nothing, we did nothing, nothing, nothing! Just having dinner."

"Jay, please stop it!"

"No! That thing is insane, it-" He wanted to raise the table leg again, Sarah at that point barged into his mind and tried to hurt him, to no effect, the man was too taken over by rage. She recalled Syvé saying she had landed on Enigma in the first place because of a servant who'd gone mad.

"- What can I do? -"

_Scream_, said an instinct.

So she screamed in a very specific direction, while simultaneously launching a second mental attack. What little effect she could achieve was enough to take him aback, and he sank to his knees in what she could not interpret as pain, fear or frustration. He let go of the pipe and clutched his ears. Sarah herself probably would've collapsed if she hadn't been in a somewhat slept-out shape, for that sound was hellish; she'd rather not repeat it.

Softer, she repeated :"Stop it."

"You bitch, you're ..... " he muttered under his breath, but made no attempt to hide his thoughts.

"Yes, I am. Don't blame Lemura, it was me. She acted on _my _feelings. Wasn't she with you for days, without harming you or Bison in the slightest? Why do you think this happened only now? I had a few words with Bison recently and something happened...." she choked on her words. ".... it reminded her and ....." Lemura was a stuff little ball of confusion, Sarah wanted nothing more than go over, but didn't dare yet pass the man.

"I don't care, I...."

"Do you really want to kill her? Then try to kill me too, if you can't trust us. You can't see it, but I'm more dangerous than her." The last part was a lie, at least for now. He didn't need to know that.

A long silence followed, until something happened that she didn't see coming. Jay's shoulder started to shake. It took Sarah aback, but then the pain of Lemura's wounds flooded over her fear.

He seemed to cry, his many emotions taking him over. Sarah uncertainly walked past him, keeping an eye open for any sudden movement while she knelt down at Lemura's side. The little chimera was bruised and bloody from herself and from Bison. Sarah quickly gathered her up as Lemu clutched onto her outstretched arm, then moved back from Jay. Not hesitating now, she walked around him with a wide angle.

As she reached the door, he suddenly jerked up. Frightened, Sarah turned, fearing an outburst, but he didn't even look around at her.

**· · · · · **

It wasn't until she reached her quarters that she noticed her heart was beating wildly. She had liked to think of herself as detached from everything, maybe even above it, just waiting for Syvé to reach her freedom .... she wasn't supposed to have fear anymore. She was supposed to be an advanced child of Noasyvé, no longer human. That thought had made her survive, that she could handle it all.

"Why do I still have adrenaline?" Xenomorph did not need adrenaline, as their perfect bodies could switch into the required mode of operation on instinct. They had judgment for survival that exceeded that of humans, they did not need fear to help them survive.

Sunken against the wall, she held Lemura close, breathing in and out until she palpitations subsided. All this time, Lemura said nothing. It wasn't until she herself had calmed down that Sarah noticed the little chimera was scared out of her wits, and still was.

"Lemu?"

She said nothing in specific, but her feelings were muddy.

"- What's wrong?- "

"- Fear .... of what?- "

Sarah couldn't answer. Just what exactly did she fear altogether? Jay with his table leg? What the scientists would do if they found her? What Utara or Nuitar would do? What she would do to them, what she would do to Jonah?

" - Do you fear me too? - " asked Lemura.

" - Perhaps yes, depends on what you would call fear. - "

" - .....I do not want to be a monster. - "

"But we're here, and everything here is a monster, including us." Sarah tried to smile as she said that. "And it's okay. We can't survive in the abyss without being monsters."

**· · · · · **

**Author's Note**_ : I cannot describe my hatred for this chapter. It kept me back for so long, so you're gonna have to be pleased with this. After this, back to Kiyasumeni we are._


	18. Dust Cookies

**· · · · · · · **

**Chapter 18 : Dust Cookies**

**· · · · · · · **

_May 14, 2578_

_Location : Planet Kiyasumeni_

**· · · · · · · **

On rare occasions, Karga'te would obtain something that got himself drunk and this tended to make him philosophical. He would then try to teach her things he'd otherwise claimed to not care for. One such she was puzzling now, as it had involved the difference between animals and higher life.

Mother had been higher life, Kirindi knew that much. A dinosaur was not higher life, though some were close. But how were Odygos and Eliath? They were not like the prey she and Karga'te hunted, they were higher. Yet they were not like her and him either.

It was because Karga'te started to notice. Not in anything that he did or how he treated her and Ti'chai-di. But they could feel it. At first he had believed she had changed because her sister had come, but as time passed on and Karga'te had learned to know Ti'chai-di, he started to suspect there had to be something else they responded to.

The whole hiding parts of their minds was not helping the situation. Kirindi didn't consider herself to be lying, she was merely not telling everything. Truth for her was that she had no idea what was to come next. They were here, these drones, her other family, why?

At some point, Karga'te would ask her what was going on and she would be unable to lie. What would happen then....she wanted Eliath and Odygos to be able to speak too, but they were practically stagnant. Sarah would occasionally come into the hivemind by dreams, but she was always blurry and rarely really_ spoke_. She didn't answer either.

Opening her eyes, she saw the brownish hues of the water bring a shape closer to her. Eliath had entered the underground lake a little while ago, but she hadn't consciously noticed him until he had entered the hive area. Barely visible in the dull light from the hive texture, she could feel him coming closer more than she could see it.

They knew no such things as greetings, but she did so anyway. He acknowledged her and elegantly floated past the spot where she was resting. She reached and took hold of his tail, climbed on his back from there. Eliath just continued swimming effortlessly towards the core of their little hive.

It was over. He had calculated his arrival perfectly. Odygos was a little stalled, but this was nothing unusual. The two drones made a habit of leaving the area when Ti'chai-di was giving birth.

Light was most intense in the middle of the hive, but still dull to human eyes if they would have been able to be there. The energy it drew from the surrounding world was lost, it indicated. Light and warmth, all losses ....she couldn't use it well.

Eliath came to a halt before the scene, softly started to sink until he reached the floor. Kirindi pushed off and swam closer to the center; a spherical form created from stands and hive material, filled with energy. A cocoon, perhaps. Small holes were throughout the surface, Kirindi went inside through one of them.

Ti'chai-di's emotions crashed over her brutally. Kept low at first by the cocoon itself, once inside Kirindi was exposed to it's full extent. It was for the fact they were underwater, otherwise Ti'chai-di could have been seen crying. Kirindi drew back a little at the wave of sorrow, but then drifted to the bottom of the cocoon. Little bodies were scattered all over it, humanoid, malformed, ill, dead. Remnants of a quickly grown womb waved around Ti'chai-di's tail in the currents, the fleshy shells of incomplete eggs still attached to it.

It hadn't been able to decide, again. Eggs, womb, live birth, chestburst. The DNA did not know what do, receiving conflicting messages all the time. Ti'chai-di did not know either. Her desire to reproduce was as strong as that of any queen, but she could never succeed. Kirindi did not share this biological trait, but it did not with-hold her from feeling the effects of it.

She reached out to one of the few infants that had survived, took it up gently. It had a tongue, arms, and looked human in many ways, but was still xenomorphic enough to be able to live without oxygen. Its limbs had grown through each other, it had no chance of living well. Kirindi smiled sadly and had mercy, crushing its head with her fingers, then let the dead body sink. She proceeded to all the others that managed to hold onto life in pain and ended them.

Ti'chai-di no longer complained. The first time she had attempted to give life she had screamed, tried to let them live, had not understood....now she did. There was no use. Kirindi ended their agony, her agony right away. When the last one was killed, Kirindi went up to her sister, softly brushed past her forehead and then went to dislodged the strands that held her up. Ti'chai-di, exhausted by the birthing and her mental turmoil, made no efforts to come free on her own and once Kirindi had finished she sank to the little bodies on the floor. The light became brighter and the temperature went up, with nowhere to go the energy now went nowhere. But Ti'chai-di could use the warmth right now.

In a while, she would be calm enough to tolerate Eliath and Odygos, they'd clean up. Till then Kirindi kept her company, curling up aside her head and taking her into an empty mindscape.

**· · · · · · · **

It was far into the afternoon, most traders were asleep except the species used to the brooding heat. Karga'te found it greatly enjoyable and highly annoying at the same time. The heat meant he could have a good time relaxing, but it also meant he was probably gonna get a call soon enough to interrupt that.

As a general consensus little trouble brewed during this time of day, sure, but sometimes a species less used to the heat would engage in negotiations with those that were used to it. Climate differences were a great way to get people fundamentally worked up in a trading zone like this. If something did happen, it happened big. Such as the cargo carried that had collided with a dock and was threatening to fall down any moment, all thanks to pilots distracted over arguments in the back of their cabin.

Karga'te got a mental call from an aggravated city supervisor demanding to know where the heck he was focusing his brainwaves, cause said event had been going on for a little too long for the worm's liking. Karga'te replied vexed that he couldn't tell when he was and was not supposed to prevent property damage, the drivers only had minor brainwaves and right now Ti'chai-di wasn't around to enhance anything telepathically. The reply was that the worm hoped she'd get those kids for a change then there would be more effective city guards. Karga'te didn't like that idea.

In no particular hurry the yautja got up from his overlook spot and started jumping down the wall till he reached a small aircraft, the quickest transport method around. Highly advanced and all that jimbo, he didn't care. The problem was in one of the cracks between the third and fourth pillar from where he was, the machine got him there in no time.

He quickly estimated the situation. Right. Wires now. Long ago he'd replaced his net with hooked wires, far more useful for stray animals, or situations like this.

There was the usual amount of panic going on, which Karga'te preferred to ignore. Same with the idiots that tried to tell him what to do with the anchors he placed. As if they'd know better. For him it was practically routine and he barely thought about the whole hopping across the extensions of the pillar. He did have to resort to snatching an extra cable from a shop, much to the chagrin of the owner, but otherwise it was the same usual boring event as ever.

For as far as Karga'te was concerned, his job was over as soon as the thing was secured from falling. He'd leave others to deal with the tied up mass and went to the nearest food shop that hadn't been deserted. Money, such a ridiculously simple and useful practice that the yautja were oblivious to. It was quick, much quicker than hunting after already being tired, let alone dragging a dinosaur home. Not that he was slacking off, but tracking tended to require the patience he often lacked.

He took the bundle of food to a rooftop and ate it there, watching the chaos below him with mild amusement. There was the market supervisor on his little hovercraft, frantically engaging in negotiations about everything he was responsible for down there. The flawed dock and Karga'te's less than eloquent way of dealing with it, for example. Then he'd have to come up and get reprimanded over it. Bastard. Karga'te knew very well the worm would end up striking more cash out of it. This city had the concept of insurance, too.

Sure enough, he was called for telepathically to come down. He didn't even consider.

Something else called as well, them he didn't ignore. Kirindi and Ti'chai-di made their way hopping across the roofs towards him quickly. Nowadays Kirindi would simply seat herself on Ti'chai-di's back, as the larger sister had gained quite some agility ever since her release. Unlike the always fit xenomorph, she needed exercise as a human would to stay mobile. That she'd gotten plenty on this planet.

The two settled with him; more out of practice than need he handed them some of the food, weird cookie-like things made of herbs and some fruit. As Ti'chai-di took the fruit with her tongue, he noticed the creature's scent. Emitting a wordless question, he asked them how it had gone.

Kirindi shook her head, her expression depressed.

"It was both, this time. Both eggs and children. And egg that was child inside. All gone now. She's so sad again." she whispered.

He briefly bowed and paused eating in acknowledgment of the deceased. But in all honestly, Karga'te would rather have them not survive, less trouble for him. Besides, why care about something that never lived? Ti'chai-di would soon enough readopt her neutral mindset, though it'd take a little longer with Kirindi to forget. It always went like that, the two would retreat somewhere for the queen sister to give birth to the malformed things in her womb and praetorian sister would aid her. It never worked out well, and Kirindi would mentally retreat during such phases for a few weeks.

Before her sister had come she had never been like that, she hadn't even really known sorrow. Maybe a vague hint of sadness, but nothing close to this depressive feeling. She'd never grown up and didn't know what to do with it, he guessed. He didn't either.

Kirindi had finished her cookies and put her arms around her legs, rolling onto her side. "I wish she could stop having them. It hurts."

Karga'te softly pulled her tail. "She'll get better when she gets older." Unfounded belief, yet Kirindi still responded hopefully. "You think so?"

"It's what you monsters do, isn't it? Take the traits useful, discard that which isn't? That DNA Reflex thing .... it'll figure something out." As if he knew anything about that.

Ti'chai'di didn't speak and never listened to specific definitions, so she could not notice this little exchange. All she could tell was that her little sister had another one of those strange moments of formless hope. She nudged Karga'te in the back to join her in that feeling, not understanding that emotion wasn't like a controlled action.

Karga'te got a bit irritable over it, till he turned and put his hand on her forehead, doing a similar thing as Kirindi would do that soothe her.

"You wouldn't understand." he said. Heck, he didn't understand himself, all this mushy stuff.

Another mental call came, once again it was the Supervisor.

Strangely enough, the worm didn't even bother with scolding him for his sloppy work, though Karga'te could just hear the foul names the worm was muttering under his breath.

"- Karga'te, listen up. Anudjan contacted me a few minutes ago. The Auton have detected a spacecraft from a certain Enigma command heading this way. They are unable to find out its purpose. Head out into the jungle cloaked and retrieve the stray traders, now! The Auton will assist, they are at the city's edge. -"

He almost froze.

Here it was. This is why he wouldn't have had Kirindi get involved with the Auton, now the humans were coming after his monster spawn! He didn't care how that Enigma thing had found out, he intended to decapitate some Auton today.

"- For once we agree. -" said the Supervisor. Karga'te irritably tried to give the worm a mental sear, but the Supervisor only brushed it off mockingly and told him to move out, preferably now. Climbing on his hovercraft, the yautja steered in the direction he had taken from the Supervisor's mind. Kirindi went on Ti'chai-di's back, who ran across anything that allowed it to keep up.

They had no trouble sensing the flares of absolute rage coming from Karga'te, it meant someone had double crossed him or something like that.

"- What is wrong? -" she asked while holding onto his shoulders as her sister leaped farther.

"- They're coming for you! -"

"- Enigma? -" She couldn't really tell about Sarah, cause then he might find the drones in her mind. So curiosity was the only thing she shared.

Upon arrival at the outer perimeter, most Auton had already moved out along with the Supervisor's workers. Left standing was Jake. Left to do the talking again, as usual.

All other rescued humans from Enigma II had been integrated in the Auton part of the society, but Jake and Shadhahvar had escaped this due to Karga'te sort of 'claiming' them. The Auton had let it be exactly for situations like this; Karga'te didn't easily decapitate things he considered alive, most definitely not things that were part of his proverbial property (he considered 'family' to be a stupid definition).

Jake for his turn had gotten used to facing irritated Yautja on regular base, so when Karga'te came seething onto the outer dock and demanded more information, he just shamefully grinned and said he had no idea.

"Anudjan claims he already told the Supervisor everything he knows. Nothing more than that a spacecraft from Enigma II is coming here."

Karga'te felt like roaring his anger out at said Auton, except said Auton was horribly absent and Jake had gotten so used to that it didn't make him flinch anymore. So Karga'te just kicked over a nearby pile of Auton stuff for the sake of venting.

"Eh, Karga'te, you're supposed to go help'em gather tourists, I think. Persephone's getting you a wrist map as we speak."

"I know, I've been told." he snarled.

"She said it could be a coincidence?" Jake suggested.

"Oh yeah? How far away is that ship landing?"

Jake shrugged. "Haven't got a clue."

The yautja kicked over another pile of Auton equipment and paced around the dock. When Persephone finally joined them, he wasted absolutely no time clarifying just how pissed off he was.

She landed a few meters aside of Jake, who instantly reached down to help her up.

"Okay, Karga'te, that was a bit uncalled for. What if they really don't know what's going on?" he said with a scowl.

"As if! Those humans are here_ so the Auton screwed up_!"

Jake sighed, but when he addressed Persephone the doubt was clear on his face too. "Where are they landing?"

She still winced from the fall, but without any sound of distress said : "They're 243 miles distanced from the plateau at one of the planet's most convenient landing spaces."

Karga'te calculated for a moment to understand what about 243 miles meant in his measures of distance.

It didn't take him long. "This isn't a coincidence, they are too close to this plateau!"

"Close? The market is on this area of the planet exactly because it is one of the most geographically convenient. They may have simply figured the same. It's not like there haven't been humans on this planet before!" the gynoid retorted, almost as if offended.

It was true for a part at least. As the planet was littered with dinosaurs, it was a tourist attracted for more than just the visiting traders and shoppers. Humans liked the place too for very similar reasons. Kiyasumeni was not suitable for building, but wilderness adventures with giant monsters, sure thing.

But, those humans were tourists. These were scientists from coincidentally that one place they'd invaded in the last few months. Karga'te didn't buy the coincidence thing one bit, he liked to think of himself as smarter than that. He knew the Auton also were smarter than that, and they were just trying to 'calm him down'. That rather got to his pride.

He kicked the gynoid's legs from underneath her and glared down at as she scrambled away. "Quit the jokes, get me that map."

She cast him a foul glance, but pulled a small wrist band from a pocket and tossed it at him.

Ignoring her furthermore, Karga'te looked over the information of the area he was to clear. He then said : "Ti'chai-di, go home."

Kirindi put both hands on Karga'te's lower arm and stood up a little, a pleading look on her face.

"Why can't she come? She has a cloaking system." she said reflecting what her sister felt, disappointment.

"You're too large, Ti'chai-di. If we need to hide from an electric scan, where would we put you? You can't fit in any caves in that area." He was right, the queen chimera was a giant even when compared to him. Karga'te briefly worried about why Ti'chai-di actually had seemed to get larger over the past months, seeing as Kirindi never had aged, but that was of later concern. First they had to get the jungle empty of irritating tourists that might give away themselves to the humans.

Ti'chai-di did not feel like being left behind right now, still at loss over her failed children, but after Kirindi comforted her a bit, she agreed to go home.

"Why don't I go with her?" Jake suggested. Kirindi gratefully smiled at him, eagerly nodding. "Will do." the human said with a grin and went to Ti'chai-di, who allowed him to climb on without objecting. He did almost fall off again when she stood up prematurely to brush foreheads with Kirindi once more.

As they took off and Kirindi waved after them, Karga'te sought out another hovercraft and shoved it in Kirindi's direction. She caught it and fiddled a bit before she managed to turn it on.

They were about to set out when Anudjan finally decided to show his face.

"- Please not now. Getting too cold for stupid androids. -" Karga'te thought. When Anudjan reached his side, he picked the Auton up, turned him around and shoved him a little too close to the edge of the dock. As in, nearly sent him flying too.

Anudjan was heavier though and managed to catch his balance. "But I just needed to say that-"

"Whatever you want to say, I knew about it before you did. Now get lost." the yautja said in deliberate poor English.

"I just needed to say that Mary Sue Mckenzie went that direction moments ago. I'd like you to get her away from there first."

Okay, he knew everything around except maybe that. Shadhahvar's head was so chaotic and sugary happy that he tended to subconsciously omit it subconsciously by proxy.

"-Just what we could use. Disturbed humans running around without a leash.-" Kirindi received the image he had in his mind at that moment and laughed gleefully.

"- Jake, Karga'te says you should take better care of your pet! -" she then telepathically told Jake with a huge grin. "- We have to catch her again! -"

Jake replied with mock distress :"- Oh, and I just tried so hard to get rid of her. -" Ti'chai-di, monitoring the exchange only had confusion to express, why would anyone want to get rid of someone they cared for? Kirindi didn't quite understand the sarcasm in it either, but just shrugged it off.

"Let's go now!" Karga'te called. "I'll go get the human, you start at our terrain."

Kirindi aired her hoverboard and did so.

What Karga'te failed to notice was that Kirindi no longer was in direct contact with him from the moment on that she went her own way. Shadhahvar right now hogging attention couldn't have happened more conveniently. Well, mostly as Kirindi had given the human a few ideas.

Just for the sake of the next stage that Syvé had promised.

**· · · · · · · **

Sarah stood plastered against the window, desperately trying to catch a glimpse of the planet. But when the shaking began, she realized it just wouldn't happen. Window was on the wrong side of the ship. How wonderful. She had secretly pictured herself standing dramatically before the window as for the first time in ages she'd see green again, like how it happened in those movies she used to watch.

"Millions on a new engine, but with something to stop this bumping? No, to greeeee-yaugh!"

She sailed across the room, turned in midair to brace herself against the opposite wall, and failed to do so. Her nose felt like it would shoot through her brain as she slammed against the wall. This sort of stuff just couldn't stop happening to her, did it?

"Ou....ch. Should 've .... stayed ...friggin cryotube." The memory of a warning from Jonah shot through her head when she had messed with the tube's settings before take-off. Since when was she chronically stubborn?

The landing proceeded technically smoothly and practically very uncomfortably.

The spot itself was what could best be described as a very, very large rock. The land around was mostly covered with rainforest but there was an open plain to the east, so this was a decent base to gather fragments of dinosaurs of both types.

Many things sank in as she finally stepped out into the open, but the first was that much to her dismay, she recognized the area now that she saw it in person.

This lands and their vegetation as well as the star formations were what she'd seen through Kirindi's eyes. It was disturbing how Utara had not only gotten the planet correct, but also the continent, maybe even the very region, simply by showing her images and measuring her subconscious and neurological responses. Sure, the planet could be explained with the dinosaurs and all, but this accurate an idea for where exactly to land? She really hoped it was a coincidence.

The wind on her skin and fresh air in her nose started to make themselves known. Only now did she notice the sickly chlorine scent that surrounded herself.

She also noticed the heat, but most of all the sound. Her new sense had barely started to feel normal and now this whole freaking world shook her head. It made her feel all sorts of things, mostly what might've been drunkenness, if she still had been human.

She hesitantly looked around to the two borg that accompanied her. They were probably recording footage already and ....

"Oh, screw you!" she said and dropped to the ground. The two machines continued working on a fence surrounding the spacecraft, though occasionally glancing in her direction.

Sarah pretty much rolled on the ground, never having realized how glorious it could feel to make a fool of yourself. She started throwing dirt in the air and shouted :"I have earth under me and you don't!" She wasn't even sure who she was talking to in specific, as the scientists on Enigma had all the same empty face in her mind. They'd never love this.

Even though it was late in the evening, the sun hurt her eyes. In combination with all the sounds and the fresh air, it didn't do wondrous things. Nausea set up. She scrambled to her feet and vomited. Then she walked a few meters away and slumped down against a small rock wall, then onto the ground.

One the the machines walked over to check on her condition, she tried to swat away its hand.

"I am doing wonderful, stop blocking the view!"

The machine tried to get a health check on her, but got no chance. Seeing the tiny scanner appear, she promptly sat up and pushed herself away from it. Scanners bad.

Addressing those that would be watching the footage in the future (or so she hoped) she said :

"I'm doing wonderful. I gloat over the fact that if you guys ever get out from your cage, you'll never understand the awesomeness of dust. And I pity you for never realizing that!" With that, she overdramatically walked away and the machine returned to its work.

It was probably going to take a while before she'd act fully normal again, even she herself realized that.

Someone else was also aware of her strange behavior.

Sarah first noticed a hint of familiarity, and then saw a flash of her own face. A human mind, somewhere around, watching?

It was far away, on another one of these giant rocks.

Who?

Shadhahvar had taken on an very yautja-irritating tendency to pretend to be a hunter. She failed utterly at it, and Jake had his hands full trying to keep her in check.

"_Shadhahvar, he's a badblood. He doesn't give a crap for honor. The only reason he gives you a ritual welcome is cause you're bringing him free food_."

Shadhahvar thought that was nonsense and was assured she was on a top stealth mission that would eliminate those evil scientists that were going to take Kirindi and Ti'chai-di back and that bringing in the heads of those evil scientists would bring her great honor.

When she however had spotted Sarah, her first thought had been :

"- Wow, that woman lost a lot of weight. -"

Sarah's first thought of recognition had been more along the lines of :"Why is the first one I meet here that clown?"

**· · · · · · · **


	19. Play Fetch

**· · · · · · ·**

**· Chapter 19 · Play Fetch ·**

**· · · · · · ·**

_May 14, 2578_

_Location : Kiyasumeni_

Humans. Along with the Destroying First and the Yautja, they were known as the three plagues of this galaxy. The First were ancient, the Yautja less so and the Humans had only been around for a few hundred of their own years, a speck on the length other societies had been active in the voids. However, the Humans possessed a hunger that drove them to establish their power beyond reason of instinct. The First, also known as the black death, usually ended up wiping out such civilizations. They were a little late with the humans.

The trading city on Kiyasumeni was particularly tensed knowing the presence of curious, hungry humans so it had taken a fairly short time for everything to quiet down. Uncloaked ships did not leave nor arrive, some that did have sufficient protection dared not even leave.

Karga'te arrived back due to this rapid silence soon enough, Shadhahvar under his arm. She protested loudly and flayed her arms and legs till he finally dropped her unceremoniously.

As she crawled to her legs, he stood before her and snapped his fingers to get her attention somewhere else than her barely visible bruise.

"You will go to Jake and tell him that Kirindi is missing. Tell him to go to my house and inform Ti-chai'di...and that he should bring a netting for her. She might be able to find her sister. And I want Jake to come with her to keep an eye on the 'visitors' with a weapon in case they come too close. Do you understand?"

"Yeah yeah, you already explained me that." she said irritably.

"And what are you not supposed to do?" he growled.

"Talk to the Auton about this."

"And what will I do if you do tell to anything synthetic?"

"You will reveal my secret hiding place of my Faria-herbs."

"You got it. Get on your way, I will go to the Enigma craft to see whether there are any traces near there." Karga'te said, and then cloaked out of visibility.

The moment he was gone, she darted off happily to find Jake. For him she virtually had a sixth sense (read : enough will to harass people till they told her where he was).

"Yo, Jake! You'll never guess this!" He startled and dropped a crate he'd been holding.

"You killed the evil scientist?" he asked suspiciously.

"No, crazy! It's that blond woman that helped us on Enigma Two! Off course I'm not going to kill her!"

He could not process that immediately. Was she making up stuff or ....?

"Oh, and Karga'te can't find Kirindi and he wants you find her and head out with her to help find Kirindi and I'm supposed to not tell the Auton cause they he'll take away-"

He put a hand on her mouth to make her stop.

"Shadey, stop and repeat slowly. Are you certain that the woman we met there, Sarah, is _here_?"

"She looks a bit different, but yeah, it's totally here! I recognize that slacked off personal hygiene anywhere!"

Jake grunted. According to Shadhahvar, 'lack of personal hygiene' meant anyone who didn't bother looking pretty and it could simply be someone else who was blond and female.

Nonetheless, if it _was_ Sarah Donovinh, then something was up. Kirindi had dropped the slightest of hints she was communicating with _something_, but never had elaborated since Jake had little experience in hiding thoughts and Karga'te couldn't find out. The yautja only had superficial telepathic powers, the Auton claimed he simply had no natural inclination towards it. That might just be their salvation.

If that indeed was Sarah, then Jake was baffled to realize Shadhahvar had kept her trap shut the entire way back. If the yautja had heard, there would have been some serious questioning over it but he had just left.

"Alright. Shadhahvar, you do exactly as he says, stay here and don't tell anyone else what you saw or else I will take away _all _of your stacks. I'm going to Ti'chai-di now."

She squeaked : "You know I have more than one?"

"Off course I do, I know you." he said. Actually, he didn't know _where_, but she didn't have to know that.

Karga'te meanwhile returned to his position, gathering up who ever he found while still trying to reach out to Kirindi, a futile effort. Maybe that was why he didn't notice immediately that the amount of Deinonychus he crossed paths with was higher than normal .... much higher.

**· · · · · · ·**

Eliath was as close on the trail of Karga'te as he could afford. The sisters had informed him the Yautja would become dangerous soon, very soon. He wouldn't like it when knowledge of the drones came out. The praetorian failed to understand why exactly he wasn't allowed to just kill the troublesome hunter. Syvé had no particular use for him from what he understood, he had long served his purpose by looking after Kirindi. Since Eliath was around now, that seemed so needless. Kirindi has given him excessive information that she called emotional attachment regarding the subject, but that seemed pointless too.

As the praetorian went on, he always was careful to adapt his heat to the surrounding, remaining invisible to the Yautja. Karga'te had UV Spectrum vision too, but his brown coloration did the rest of the work.

Odygos meanwhile was getting in position to cross the first plain. He lacked sufficient heat suppression and couldn't just pass the plain like that, if Karga'te looked that way just one he'd clearly see him. There had to be a diversion.

The drones could not grin, but if they ever had an attitude close to it, Eliath was feeling it right now.

The talent to establish a dominion hive mind anywhere was not exclusive to the Sisters. While Eliath lacked the precision for advanced commands, he had an easy time tapping into a nearby pack of Deinonychus. Thick jungle was not their territory, but the nearby carved landscape offered many alternatives out of sight of the plains.

As Eliath set his plan into motion, he started to grasp hints of what the Yautja was thinking. He had noticed Kirindi was suspiciously silent and he tried to call out to the larger Sister. To no avail. Perfect. He sent his new found army on its way.

The moment the yautja was stripped of his scanner and suitably occupied by the swarm of Deinonychus, Odygos shot across the plain as quick as his legs could carry him. Reaching the opposing jungle soon enough, he made his way to the giant rock and carefully climbed up.

The Enigma vessel was equipped with motion detectors, but had nothing like the advanced magnetic maps of the trading city. Besides, they only expected dinosaurs at most. Where human behavior itself remained an enigma, he perfectly understood these 'invisible eyes'. He found the root of the system and spat at it with precision. Over time, the mildly acidic drool would do its work.

Sarah did not remain unaware of his presence. Much to Odygos' surprise, she pleaded him not to come within her sight.

Must be some weird human thing.

Once the acid had done it's work, he climbed a tree and gracefully leaped across the gap and onto the ship, right through the blind spot of the scanner.

Gurgling up acid, he made a hole where he sensed the metal was thin and not rigged. He slipped in, found Sarah's room on scent and opened the door to wait inside. She let him wait, as she had to continue her work as not to raise suspicion, so he entertained himself by investigating the very, very breakable things known as clothes. They were very puzzling and he couldn't grasp their meaning, never had. Such a popular habit for such a futile element.

As much as she told him not to come, she didn't have much of a choice but to try and cover up the security break, lest he risk being found and killed. Humans were so contradictory.

He was bored soon. Clothes stopped being clothes after fiddling with them a wee bit too long.

When Sarah finally entered the room, the first thing she did was whisper : "You ..... ruined my favorite shirt!"

Disappointment?

Odygos straightened up and she took a step back, breathing heavily all of the sudden. She was fearful, but put up an act of irritation as compensation for it. That, and she really did find it unbelievable that she'd have her reunion with him while he was covered with torn fabric. Silly plus fear plus irritation .... that was exactly one of those human behavior things Odygos didn't get.

Words. Oh help, she thought primarily in _words and images_. His own language was far more complex, not abstract but more basic.

"- You fools, Utara is watching, she'll find out. -" she told him desperately.

Equally, he thought she was a fool for worrying about petty little things like that fake entity when his Mother had told she should come along and be her voice to the Sisters and the Auton, as amusing her her efforts were.

"- Look, Utara now knows you're here, she basically let you in. All she needs is an excuse to send a thorough investigation squad to this planet and blame me for having suggested the location to cover herself. So please, leave before the cyborg come. -"

Odygos couldn't care less. What Mother said was what mattered and Sarah's logic was not above that. He stepped forward and intended to picked her up, but stopped as she moved aside, out of immediate reach.

With Syvé's call so dim, she suddenly felt a lot less secure than she'd been on Enigma II when faced with this very same drone. He somehow felt different. She could only pin it on the fact he was excessively curious to the point of practically invading her mind. Not to mention he had reached full growth over the passing of time and was just plain towering over her. Knowing he didn't mean her harm didn't change much to the irrationality of instinctive fear, something she was not above much to her dismay.

That too he found curious, yet here he obliged and stepped back. After a moment of reestablishing her self control, she pushed off the wall and walked toward the drone. He lay down and suggested she sit on his back, because whether she liked it or not, they were going to leave.

Cynically, she said : "- One day I hope you understand what abduction means and remember I was opposed to this plan. -"

He answered that it would be nice if she would just trust Syvé on what to do. Sarah for her turn wasn't sure exactly how much of this was Syvé's plan.

"- If she says so I'd agree, but .... -"

But then, it was too late now, she noticed now. They were already sent.

With a tensed sigh, she stepped onto the drone's back as he held up an arm to help her. Situating her knees between the four tubes, she found that the drone's head would probably hit her if he so much as looked up. Thinking it over for a moment, she ducked and laid her head on his head. This wasn't going to be a fun run, she realized.

"- Be careful, okay? -"

His reply could best be described with 'Doh'. With that, the drone stood up, walked out the door and hello, there were both of the cyborgs, as ordered by Utara.

"- They cannot fire lasers inside the ship. -" Sarah told him. He didn't need much more knowledge, ran right over one of the cyborg and out of the hole he had made earlier. A reaching hand failed at holding him back.

Odygos jumped off the ship, landed into the tree he had come from and went on like that. The cyborg lacked the benefit of being very mobile in the undergrowth and could only follow by ground. Sometimes he heard the human on his back yelp as branches hit her and she pointlessly tried to hold on even tighter. It didn't take long this way before a thin scent of blood came from her, predominantly from not so shallow scratches on her legs.

This brought something problematic to his attention. If _he _was would bleed the wrong way, she would be in a lot of trouble.

Their pursuers were catching on. Two laser rays broke the dark of night, he barely avoided being hit. Energy he could not see, so his only cue was the slightest click that came whenever the cyborg fired and it would be only a matter of time before they hit him.

Where the heck was Eliath?

Oh great, still messing around with the hunter.

The trees started to thin and he could no longer use them to his advantage. With one massive last leap he landed like a cat and took off from there, right into a sleeping herd of Diplodocus. Small as he was, the creatures were a bit startled but didn't mind much, he smelled like no carnivore they knew. If he could pass them and reach the nearest opposing jungle, he might shake the cyborg. That advantage quickly changed once the cyborg fired down a few trees and then aimed at the dinosaurs in an attempt to stampede the herd.

Within seconds the dinosaurs broke into a panic at what appeared to them an ambush from the trees. In the dark they hardly saw anything, crashed into each other and finally made off away from the forests strips. Odygos darted through the stomping feet and barely avoided being crushed. Like this he couldn't afford to leave the herd, not now the cyborg had had the chance to place themselves in his chosen escape route. So he jumped once more and clawed his way onto one of the dinosaurs, hitching a ride. The dinosaur roared in pain, but could do little against him. The spiked line atop the dinosaur's spine offered some chance to hold on and from there Odygos had a momentary clear echo view of the surroundings.

With their speed, the cyborg pursued the herd in a very specific fashion. Sharing his thoughts with Sarah, they understood quick enough what was the plan. It didn't matter to the cyborg whether they got them alive or not, but by forcing them to go along with the herd, they were prevented from escaping to where they wanted to; an assumption made on base of the drone likely knowing the terrain better than them.

He took a chance to try and leave the herd before they reached the riverbed they were being guided towards. Once the cyborg would get on either side, they'd have a clear shot at the drone and his passenger.

This was a seeming mistake, however. While the river was without stream, it wasn't dry. The impact of his jump had him sink half into the mud, by the time he struggled free the cyborg had caught up. Coming from both sides, they slowed their approach to a mere walk. Caught in between a muddy and sandy bank and the two cyborg, there wasn't a quick way out.

"Sarah Donovinh, step away." one of the cyborg monotonously ordered.

She actually considered it. Her life didn't have any strong priority for these cyborg and they might just decide to shoot the drone as it was. She knew exactly that the acidic blood could either kill her or worse, leave her permanently scarred and in care of Enigma II ....

"- Way too late too turn. -" she reconsidered. She pressed her head against the back of Odygos and didn't look.

Odygos pretended to move backwards in the third direction and the cyborg expected him to try and leap over them. But instead, he quickly spat twice right at their faces, then rapidly started climbing the wall before them. Theoretically not their best chance, but one advantage they had, these cyborg had not known his spit was acidic too and they had to pause to clear it out of their visors.

As they climbed and the cyborg soon pursued, they suddenly heard a cutting call. A shadow came down to meet them and reached out, forcefully hauling Odygos back up the slope with him.

Once there, Sarah recognized Eliath from what Kirindi had shared with her. In the dim blue starlight she could only vaguely see the form of the drone, mostly a tall silhouette against the sky. If Odygos outside of Syvé's control had scared her a bit, than this creature filled her with dread. Its mind was as that of most drones, devoid of any sort of humanity or consideration. By contrast, Odygos suddenly seemed a lot less alien.

They were fired at, but nothing reached them beyond splinters of something. Sarah noticed Eliath carrying a small make-shift bag of hide, taking out a peculiar smelling rock. With inhuman precision and speed, he threw them to intercept the laser fire. Calculating the very move of the cyborg's aim, was this even possible, or were the cyborg simply too predictable in comparison to the organic machine that the praetorian was?

Before Sarah could get herself back on track in face of this creature, Odygos took off once more while Eliath remained behind.

They fired. Eliath intercepted one attack, was scraped by another bolt and the loose ground gave the first cyborg no solidity when Eliath tackled him full force. Metal machine clashed with organic machine full force. Spreading the tiny feather-like extensions across his exoskeleton, he started to bleed acid all over. His blood sprayed in all directions and these cyborg had little to no defense against it.

Eliath hauled up the cyborg he had tackled, threw him at the other and then tackled the both of them. In the clutter their disorientation, they didn't have the time to prepare for the second attack. Eliath started picking them apart before they could get up, his blood increasingly damaging their motorization and system.

Odygos was disinterested and simply carried Sarah farther and farther, and she only battled her heartbeat.

**· · · · · · ·**

This would affect the area for a while, Karga'te thought as he looked across the dead Deinonychus around him. It was an unspoken fact that this was absolutely not normal behavior for these predators that had learned to avoid him so many years ago. Irritated, he decided to contact the androids about this. He could just casually report the dinosaurs were acting strangely without mentioning Kirindi's and now Ti'chai-di's silence, see whether they had anything interesting to say.

He didn't even have to try to avoid bringing up the chimeras. Once he had finished his quick report, he was told to go to a certain location not too far from where the enemy vessel had landed. There were more unknown factors, apparently.

"What a surprise." he muttered cynically and went on his way. Soon he arrived at a no more peaceful dry riverbed. Auton had gathered already to collect evidence, he spotted Anudjan trying to signal him over. Oh well. He went.

The android led him to the sight where the machines were destroyed.

"A herd of Diplodocus stampeded and we found a trail leading to this location." he explained as he showed him the half melted and completely turn apart cyborg, a bloody mess of iron and flesh.

"This is the work of an Internecivus Raptus, is it not?" Anudjan asked him.

As if that question needed any affirmation. Karga'te walked around and looked over the scene, then away at the riverbed.

"There were two of them." he said.

"Indeed. I suspect the scientists brought them along for whatever crazy reason they might have and they escaped. It is the only explanation."

The yautja said no more and prepared to leave.

"You shouldn't go alone!" Persephone called when she noticed it. She stood up from something she'd been studying and walked closer, but not too close to the yautja. Holding up her hands, she showed him a certain type of very dense volcanic rock.

"They seem to have been burst by laserfire, nothing else could break these the way they have been."

"Someone actually used them to block laserfire? That's very hard to believe." said one of the other androids.

"Whatever we are facing, it is intelligent and capable of making advanced strategical decisions. The drone actually went out and found something to use as a self defense tool and knew exactly what they needed."

"How would it have time to discover the location of these things though?"

"Maybe the scientists for some reason had collected the stones themselves?"

"We never noticed the scientist leave and we are fairly sure the cyborg did not either."

"The scientist is not at the ship however, we sent someone there and it's empty. In fact ..." said yet another and pointed at a form in the mud, which seemed distinctly leg like and carried traces of human blood. ".... there was a human on the back of one of the drones."

"They kidnapped the scientist? What the heck is going on here?"

Karga'te quietly listened over their debate, almost too calmly absorbing what they were saying. When that one question finally came, he didn't answer that either.

"Karga'te, where is Kirindi? Maybe she can help us figure this out with her telepathy."

Nothing. His absolute calmness was somewhat unsettling to the androids. Karga'te coped with anger by wrecking things, so much they expected that of him that his absolute lack of emotional response could simply not be a good thing. They certainly didn't expect the question he posed next :

"That android that accompanied them to Enigma II, he was hiding something, right?" he said with actual care to make his English understandable to the androids.

"I'll go hunting." he continued. No more interest in them, he left the androids to their wonder and concern.

"Jake and Shadhahvar were also awake during the whole ordeal, weren't they?" Persephone soon asked.

"Send to have them apprehended." Anudjan said after quick contemplation.

The yautja meanwhile took his transport and followed the trail that soon grew so thin only he could see it.

_If they prove to be beasts now .... I will be the hunter once more.  
_

**· · · · · · ·**

The sun was just rising and the stars faded in the yellow and pink of dawn, a complement to a plain of grass so wide that one could be in the center without seeing the surrounding jungles. As dinosaurs had no use for grass, they did not come here and save for a bird here and there it was perfectly desolate, their perfect meeting point.

Here and there rocks broke the smooth grass horizon, one was leading to an unexpected canyon with a small river through it : the stray arm of the now dehydrated river, curtsy of a recent storm playing with the remnants of an old earthquake. There, Kirindi sat on a rock, listening to the distant singing of the Parasaurolophus' and Brachiosaurs while her mind was entirely elsewhere, with Odygos and Sarah.

Her patience was rewarded.

The drone came to a halt right before the rocks and Sarah, nauseous once more, tumbled off and nearly threw up a second time. She was aware of Kirindi the entire time, but didn't physically notice her until she saw the double clawed bony feet beside her. Gentle hands took hold of her shoulders, pulling her up. Kirindi dropped her forehead against that of Sarah and emanated a calming feeling, softly subduing the ex-human's physical ill feeling. Sarah slumped into relaxation and Kirindi silently welcomed her home to the hive mind.

Sarah's shoulders started to shake softly, soon she was crying.

Humans aren't very beautiful when they cry, they get swollen noses and red cheeks with narrow eyes and their mouths contort into strange shapes. Sorrow was not alien to Kirindi anymore, but this was the first time she saw a human being cry out of sadness. Shioying had never looked in a mirror, after all. It probably was inappropriate that she thought it looked funny, especially since what she felt in Sarah was anything but funny and she didn't know how to make that go away.

Sarah, in tune with Kirindi's mind, managed a twisted laugh.

"I'm not supposed to be human anymore." she said.

"That's okay." Kirindi said with a sincere smile. "I never was one."

"What are we doing here?" Sarah asked. It was more of a universal question, a plea of sorts to understand why she'd ended up here, like this, but Kirindi only answer what she knew.

"We talk. You can explain things, right?"

"But .... then what?"

"I don't know. Shall we go to the shadow? The sun soon comes."

Odygos set Sarah back on her feet and walked aside of her into the plants that covered the entrance, while Kirindi went ahead to clear away the stone that blocked the proverbial gate. So they entered the illusion of another world.

Through the split above them light and dew drops fell down, creating a misty shimmer. The moss covered canyon deepened soon and it became moister. Ferns and other small plants grew down here, strange smelling flowers sometimes peaked up. The deepest point of the tight canyon was no longer narrow but rather wide, light falling down vaguely from above. A few curly, bend thick branches bushes grew down here along the brown walls, almost like arches.

"Eyes can look down here, but won't see us....so we can talk and I can understand and explain him then." Kirindi said. Sarah nodded absentmindedly.

Without words, they agreed to wait as Kirindi took care of some of Sarah's cuts, which might easily get infected down in this damp atmosphere. With almost detached interest, Sarah noticed that underneath her skin, she no longer had perfectly human flesh. Where should be soft, formless red was a intricate pattern visible, ever so slightly.

"You're like us." Kirindi noted with glee.

"Is crying part of that?"

Kirindi nodded. "Oh yes, Ti-chai-di often needs to cry, when her children die, my little cousins."

"They die?"

As Sarah become calmer and calmer under Kirindi's influence, she was told in detail what previously she had only been able to perceive in vague dreams. Of Kiyasumeni and the life here, of the androids, of the sister and the underwater hive den, of the drones and of the new Eliath and of how silly Odygos could be, and off course, of Karga'te.

"See? I have sadness too." Kirindi said with a smile. "I want him to understand so badly and he doesn't to. He is very angry right now, you see. He's trying to find us."

**· · · · · · ·**


	20. Reaction Formation

**Author's Note : **_This chapter was another mountain of a problem. In the earlier drafts of the stories I had resolved it with a deus ex machina, didn't want to repeat that. It also included a big fat info-dump of how Karga'te and Kirindi met. I should have written those out at the start, when I wrote the story first, but now I'll upload that story separately. It also alludes to events of Morphology, likewise chapters that I have not yet written. __All will have to do as it is._

**· · · · · · ·**

**· Chapter 20 · Reaction Formation ·**

**· · · · · · ·**

Sarah leaned against Odygos and noticed he adapted his position to curl around her. There was nothing human about him, yet still ... no. Nothing human at all. Human wasn't a synonym for familiarity or consideration. It never had been.

This was her first truly conscious thought since she had arrived here. Only slowly she became accustomed to the bull brunt of the hive mind as shared between Kirindi, Eliath, Odygos and Ti'chai-di, though the latter remained only an undefined presence. Regardless, now she was back to herself she started to ask real questions.

"~ Why did you bring me here? ~"

"~ To explain me what I need to say and wait. ~"

"~ For what? ~"

"~ Until it is safe for you to go to the androids. You must wait until my sister is close enough, she will bring you further. Father must not meet you first. ~"

Sarah had seen some of Karga'te during her vague dream visits, but now that Kirindi had shared with her what she knew of this hunter, this yautja, ... there wasn't distinct fear, but the little chimera was worried, and with right. Karga'te didn't seem like someone who would calmly listen to a rational explanation. He had always seen Kirindi as a human with errors, should he learn that she was far more of the xenomorph, he might assign her the — as he deemed — appropriate definition of prey.

"I don't want him to hunt me," she whispered sadly.

" ~ Just hide. Why this whole elaborate ruse? ~"

"~ He will find our tracks even if my mind stays sealed. He already has. ~"

"~ You shouldn't face him! ~"

"~ If I were to go to the androids, he would fight them too. Kill them. He doesn't understand they have a Path. He doesn't understand Eliath and Odygos have a Path of their own too. You go to the androids and speak to them. I will try speaking to my father. ~"

Sarah did understand, even if she didn't _want_ this to make sense. The ordinary hunters were already a problem on their own. Karga'te was no more ordinary hunter.

"Alright. I will try talking to the androids. When can I leave?"

"~ My sister will not arrive here before Karga'te. Leave before he becomes, Odygos is faster than her. Until then, it is your turn to speak. Please? ~"

"~ Off course. Do you know where the Internecivus Raptus come from? This story is intertwined with it.

Too long ago to give a real number, a highly evolved species existed for whom technology and biology had become one and the same, they themselves had merged with their creations. Yet they had not become wiser throughout their time. War still tore at their civilization, until they created the the monsters that are in your DNA as a desperate means to settle everything.

Like many other drones they had created, like many of the wildlife of that world, they weren't even the strongest. They were meant as a quick plague, otherwise contained by nature itself. Their only difference, that which made them useful as a weapon, as that they were not linked to the minds of their creators, but to a bestial queen instead. They could not be predicted or hacked. They controlled them through a single queen instead, whom they held physically restrained and threatened into cooperation. Who ever had this Queen Mother had her armies too.

Immune to psychic persuasion, they heard only what their mother told them. Their very fabric that made them contained a memory of her and no other they would obey.

Their creators kept the Queen Mother and her daughters on a single planet, one we call Proteus now, where they layed their eggs for inevitable harvest. The eggs were then dispersed above enemy territory and for a long time, this led them closer to victory.

But, the enemy did not sit still in face of their demise. Desperate they sent invasion after invasion to just obtain one specimen, one living queen. They failed, but soon learned something curious : queens could be bred from mere drone parts, and this led them to believe the design was not as perfect as it appeared. These queens would eventually succumb to the Queen Mother too, but the knowledge was enough. See, the time it took for them to give in was different. What if the Queen Mother was merely the strongest, and there were others?

They found them, the prototypes of the Queen Mother, discarded in a place not secure enough. They revitalized them, and one was a success. She bred slowly and her children were a small number, but she never surrendered to the younger Queen Mother. In fact, she learned how to still territory within the hive mind, a trait born from flaw and need. She altered the will of the drones and stole them, and in the process she learned to alter herself.

The sin or the virtue of independence tempted her to fight for herself not out of instinct, but desire. She had become aware of herself and her limitations and found she did not have the numbers to win against either her "masters" or the Queen Mother, so she compromised.

Her enemies became her allies, for she shared her gift with the Queen Mother. She told her what the threats of her captors meant and taught her the concept of future, though she kept imagination to herself. So the creators noticed too late that the eggs they harvested no longer contained only drones, but queens too.

The Queen Mother led her children in war against their creators, both sides fell indiscriminately until all of their once powerful civilization had turned to dust. Specks still remain here and there, but not nearly as numerous a mark as the perfect beasts are.

Across the eons, civilizations came to power and fell under their acid blood, governed by the call of a hidden Queen. The Queen Mother was a filter for the galaxy, inadvertently allowing only the peaceful civilizations to thrive. Greed soon undid all those temped by her destroying angels.

But, then she died. One civilization overcame her, almost by accident. And all her children fell to reckless chaos, and it is because of the Hunters that this chaos spread across all of the galaxy.

The Oldest Mother remains. It is her we follow and call for. Her command is to restore order to the Galaxy. She will not suffer the humans nor the yautja bringing it to further ruin. She will take the place of the Queen Mother and will govern this galaxy.

But the Oldest Mother has not fully woken. She only had begun to build army, and was hampered by the Matriarch of the Hunters. Ultimately, she was betrayed by a Child she had stolen from the Matriarch. Now she had fallen into the hands of the youngest empire : the Humans.

**· · · · · · ·**

There was only one story left to be told, but no time.

Kirindi wasn't the sort of person to sit down and meditate. Things were as they were for her, what she did not know she did not wonder about lest it was some part of her missing, such as her sister. This Oldest Mother, Noasyvé, wasn't part of her hive. She remembered her though, it had been her who had helped her survive. Karga'te was someone she wasn't obligated to care for, but he _was_ part. Eliath had objected so often to that. But now he was strangely quiet.

If the hunter would tell her to die, she would not do it, but she would not be able to kill him if he would make that necessary. So she told Sarah as she escorted her outside of the canyon.

Sarah climbed back on Odygos' back and held Kirindi's hand for a moment; one of those human gestures that Kirindi understood, Eliath didn't and Karga'te refused to.

"Stay alive," Sarah whispered. She then turned to Eliath and the solid wildness of his mind. His reply was indistinct and perhaps a little curious was that he did seem to agree that Karga'te was a danger to the point of justifying his death, when Kirindi did not. Unlike Odygos, he wasn't attuned to his protege. Eliath already was building up ferocity, which Sarah couldn't reflect in ... yet.

Compared to the brown warrior, Odygos was like water, bending around her mind and complying rather than forcing. She and him would head to another gap and hide there. Karga'te would likely pass them by on his way, and then they would go to meet Ti'chai-di who would bring them further.

Sarah took a deep breath and curled up on the drone's back, and they were on their way.

Kirindi did not watch them disappear. Though her father no longer shared her mind's eyes, she would take no risk.

Long she waited, until a moon had risen on the horizon and the stars were drowned by the light of mid day. The heat built up and isolated the cold forms of her and the praetorian in a sea of almost visible energy.

He'd taken one of the Auton's vehicles, which he carelessly jumped off a hundred meters away from them. The machine continued aimlessly past them, over the canyon and soon collided with the ground. It halted quietly while Karga'te walked closer with little more speed, and so the world closed around them.

Kirindi stood up.

"Father?"

Basic fear was not, never had been included in her chemical blueprint, but remnants of it remained in her brain's structure. It was not fear for harm, but something much more like the childish amazement at being threatened by someone they trust. Even if he sealed his mind from her, she could see the predator in his movement, his eyes, the way his mandibles sometimes flared. It was wrong that this hunter came for her, but she could only accept it, for the alien within her held no space for delusions.

"What is this?" he asked in the tongue of Hunters.

"He is my guardian, father," Kirindi answered.

"So you are Kainde Amedha after all. I guess that makes me the Yautja."

Years ago there had been a girl named Shioying, a human child who found the wrong toy. It hadn't mattered when she cried and begged, because the humans hadn't understood. Neither had the yautja, but throughout the pain of change, she had been certain he had helped her ... had he?

It didn't matter though. Now he stood before her, Kirindi, he just as unable to understand her as he had heard the girl.

Eliath stood up behind her and she didn't have the power to stop him, for he too held no place for delusions. What he knew, that he knew : a hunter had come for the one he was meant to protect. And protect he would, starting with that plasma caster and a well aimed shot of acid blood ...

**· · · · · · ·**

Sarah and Odygos emerged from their hiding the moment they knew the hunter had found his targets.

Even an alien drone could be driven to exhaustion, if one tried long enough. Odygos would gladly test his limits for her in a run to Auton, perhaps not only because she wanted it, but he too. The trance-like race soon started to feel like running through the sea, and just as soon faded away.

She became aware of Ti'chai-di before she could see her. The sister held no particular interest in Sarah, did not reach out, yet was inescapable all the same. Sarah soon found herself submerged in her chaotic currents.

In the shaking air, her stealth form did not become visible for a long time though and even once she uncloaked, she did not stand out in these bright surroundings. Much like how Jonah had once encountered her, though then the conditions had that of a marsh rather than a burning prairie.

The queen chimera was like Jonah had described her, an animal or a child desperate for guidance, but not necessarily needing profound affection. However, she was calmer than he had alluded to and did not force emotions on her, perhaps because she now her had her little sister.

The two beasts stopped at the same time; a black drone with a pale woman on his back, while from behind the white corona of the queen a tan man emerged. He promptly ran to her.

Sarah needed a moment to recognize him, for she had only ever seen him in the darkness and different clothes.

"Jake?" she muttered as she telepathically reached out.

"Sarah ... I can't believe it," the man said, entirely astonished.

"You better," Sarah said as she staggered off the drone.

"Yeah ... Shadhahvar was correct for once. Seriously, wow. Where's Kirindi?"

"She's baiting that hunter to buy me time. I need to get to the Auton and explain them everything!"

"No, she's hoping he'll see her again," Jake muttered. "I don't think he'll be able to hurt her, not from what I've seen."

"You _think_? I've witnessed this twice already. It's Hive Rejection, a psychological response of people who are forced into the hivemind. Humans have a part of their brain that perceives telepathic information in stagnation, but it can be woken up when put under exposure. Through this, they can be taken into the hive mind. People who are forced will go into a frenzied rebellion once they reach the phase directly in between dependence and individuality." Her eyes were glazed over as she ranted her knowledge, and she slowly seemed to freeze.

Jake took her at the shoulder and a shock went through her. "He's trying to kill her already," she whispered. "I willingly entered it so it never happened with me, but it has happened with various others. It happened to my old friend Jonah, it happened in Enigma II to Schrödinger, it happened just before I left the station to Jay and it happened to the yautja that betrayed Syvé!" Now she became frantic, Jake had a hard time making sense of her mood change and just assumed it was telepathic stuff.

"Right, lots of names I don't know what to do with. Look, lady, wake up and think clearly. We can't just go to the city, they're n—"

"He thinks he's being forcefully controlled and is trying to actively ignore it. It's like ... _reaction formation_ on a psychic level. He responds with the opposite emotion of what he experiences, he doesn't want to so he does, and that's the real fake thing and ... and ..."

Jake sighed, then turned his attention to Odygos. "You guys are lost. Your messenger can't even handle this situation."

"What? I just need to talk to the androids!"

"Sarah, if those androids learn about Karga'te fighting an alien drone, they're gonna open fire. I know these people. The droid that helped us? He wiped his memory to protect these drones. They're not on your side, we have to be careful."

"They have to be, they've got to stop the fight and —"

Jake shook his head and sighed, rubbing a hand through sweaty hair. "Right, right ... maybe we can isolate one of them before the whole mass comes, talk to that one ... you able to handle a weapon yet?"

"No."

Jake pulled his cargo off of Ti'chai-di, showing her a few guns he'd brought along. "Then just help me recharge, maybe you can read my mind on how to do it or something. I'll floor a few guys, and you can drag them over here and talk to them. Find some shelter too..."

But it fell on deaf ears.

"Stop it you fool! Stop it!" Sarah screamed. Her eyes became wide and started to hit around her. Jake quickly removed the weapon from her reach. When she saw him draw away, she made a jump for it.

"Give me that! We have to go back, stop him, stop him!" But Jake only held onto the weapon higher. Sarah wretched at it with inhuman strength and got it loose, but it was snatched from her hands by even greater strength. Odygos would not be caught in the frantic despair of Ti'chai-di and Sarah.

He tossed it back to Jake and focused on his mind. With some difficulty, he managed to explain at the chimeras here would not be able to act rationally for the time being. But maybe he could?

**· · · · · · ·**

"Look at the drone fighting for his queen!" Karga'te mocked.

Kirindi sat like a ball, looking down at sand that melted in her blood and a few of her tears. She clutched her arm close, part of the skin had ripped off and revealed the dark exoskeleton underneath. Eliath had not been quick enough to intercept Karga'te, and she herself had not had enough ... will? Comprehension? Or perhaps, it was denial after all.

In silence she screamed for him to listen, but Karga'te heard only encouragement for the monster before him. Her guardian, who had formed a wall between him and his prey.

His brother once had taught him that if one got stuck in a hive, if nothing else works, then kill the queen. Her absence will disorient the hive mind, and if there were more drones, he would need that. He didn't care for the details, now he wanted to do only what he was born for : to hunt and emerge victoriously. This he told himself over and over.

But the wall did not let him pass.

Karga'te feigned jumping aside and Eliath's movements changed to catch him to the right, but Karga'te jumped overhead instead. His speed was not what Eliath expected of a Hunter, for a moment it was an advantage, until the praetorian's head twisted around.

Teeth drove into the yautja's legs and he was swung against the ground. Karga'te grabbed for one of the blades at Eliath's arm and tore his fingers open in an attempt to disbalance the alien, to no avail. The jaws were still lodged in the leg and in a moment of telepathic clarity, Karga'te saw he was about to have his muscles ripped out.

Better some than all.

He set his free foot against the shoulder of the xenomorph and kicked off at the same moment he drove his wrist blades into the alien's jaw, a familiar trick.

Eliath let go with an irritated hiss and a few strands of flesh hanging from his mouth. Karga'te was back on his feet, not without effort, and the next moment they attacked each other again.

Queens did not have faces to look sorrowful and yautja were not supposed to have eyes to acknowledge that. But the proof that the creature there was a queen, itwas before him, did it not? It was digging its razors into his flesh and claws tried to break his weapons, its blood burned through his skin.

Why wasn't he dead yet?

The praetorian grabbed his arm and twisted loose the blade gauntlet. A fight he had thrown himself into driven by rage now appeared as the hopeless thing it was. Taking on a praetorian as a lone hunter who still did not have experience with them, that was how the fools were weeded out. He was hauled up at his arm and thrown away almost too easily. He couldn't land with this leg and rolled further, almost into the canyon. His enemy dropped on all fours and chased right after him. Yet still he did not strike to kill, instead throwing him into the gap.

Karga'te barely registered the fall, but the collision with the ground sent a dull thump through his body. The canyon was deep, he had bounced off extrusions from the wall several times, why did it not feel like his bones were broken.

Eight years ... involuntarily his memory was dragged back across that time, to the few times he had fallen down something ... he had always shaken it off when he noticed something was wrong.

As if to drive it home further, the canyon wall started to collapse onto him. Drops of acid accompanied them; the alien was melting the earth loose with his own blood. With a torn but unbroken body, Karga'te struggled to get out of the way, but soon the chunks grew too heavy and he was half buried.

Quite at ease, his enemy climbed down to the trapped yautja with taunting slowness. He stepped onto the yautja and with a few swipes, he cleared away the rubble before Karga'te face, releasing his arms. All the while, he broke a crude mental bridge to the yautja's mind and compelled him to simply look at his injuries. He refused, but the will was almost like the scent of flesh on a predator, as if tugging his instincts ... he had to look.

The removal of the gauntlet had peeled off his skin, but most of the muscle tissue was intact ... much, much too intact. Unlike flesh and more like some elastic yet hard matter it drew together, bound by strings and an artificial row of lines ... In sudden panic he scratched open his arm further, feeling the same hard biomechanic fabric under his deceptively normal skin. Green blood poured out, but not as much as it ought to be.

Eliath stepped off him and turned around on all fours, so that Karga'te could see the resemblance between their arms.

There and then, a Hunter realized his death, eight years too late.

The kainde amedha before him had a clearer understanding of what it was than he himself did of his ... and perhaps it understood him better too. Drones do not kill their own easily, lest for a purpose. Another thing Nra'tex-ne had taught him. It was _against _its instincts to do this, yet despite those instincts it wanted to see him dead, for he was a traitor to his kin, something that should be impossible for this very hive. He didn't act on it, but he wanted to.

Kainde amedha was not meant to have individuality.

It replied wordlessly, it had individuality and was meant for it.

Just like everything here.

All the same kin.

Unspeakable rage possessed Karga'te, not born from honor or instinct, but his basic sense of self. He wanted that monster dead, as if it would undo this transformation.

Roaring coarsely, he struggled free from the rocks, while the alien only stepped back and watched, openly sharing a sense of amusement at his pathetic efforts. On damaged legs Karga'te threw himself on the alien, but with mocking ease he was knocked down again. Trying to tackle the sun might have been just as fruitful.

Almost as if hearing a real voice, the alien called the yautja out as one of his kind, yet a disgrace; like an echo of treachery that Karga'te had committed years ago. Then, that had been_ for_, rather than _of_ his family, and this the alien had learned very quickly. Why would he respect him, if he had forsaken this right by trying to take the life of the child they both should protect?

But the alien did not mind being his replacement. Simultaneously he tried to provoke to and discourage the yautja from returning to the hivemind. In the midst of the alien's relentless taunting, Karga'te saw only one thing clearly : his enemy had a solid Path and a name of his own. It had been given to both and he liked them.

Karga'te on the other hand saw every reason to dislike his own Path, if his self-made fate meant to die on this dirty floor in the earth.

A soft sandy nose, and Eliath took a few steps back. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Kirindi's two-toed feet appear aside him, a few meters away. She knelt down, still clutching her injured arm and her large dark eyes gently looked at him. The praetorian came to stand behind her, feather blades still extended should he try anything. But he also withdrew his mental hold on the yautja with a last threat.

Karga'te was painfully reminded of a scenario long ago, where he should have been in the praetorian's position.

"His name is Eliath. His path is only to protect me," Kirindi whispered. "Odygos is the name of my other new friend. He path is also to protect, Sarah in specific."

She waited for him to acknowledge her, and it took a long time. It didn't matter, her patience didn't wear down, while his anger soon become apparent for the hollow thing it was.

"I don't care," he eventually said, but the very fact he spoke betrayed the lie. He did want to know.

"Sarah chose her path because ... I don't know. She never told me. But she wants to free the Oldest Mother because she thinks she deserves it," Kirindi continued. "My sister, she has no Path she can tread, but the Oldest can give her one, she hopes."

Having said that, she crawled closer and reached out her damaged hand. Karga'te didn't wait to find out what for, he dragged himself away quickly. She withdrew her hand, but didn't seem deterred. He now was at the opposite of the canyon, slumped down against the wall, but his eyes now clear and turned towards her. She couldn't read them well.

"You are her child too, of the Oldest Mother, for she thought you'd follow a path aside of me any way. That's why you didn't die that day. Meke'tor was a mistake, that's why he never changed inside. Like you, like Sarah ..."

A soft telepathic push tried to persuade him to open up, for she wanted to let him see. Little facts from his own memory crept up uninvited and supported the strange awareness of this hivemind; like the way he had gotten involved in the egg case, like the hundreds of times he should have died on this planet, like a prayer he had never spoken, asking for a second chance.

This was not the sort of second chance he had in mind, but it was a similar path nonetheless ... and again, he was failing it. His mental defenses started to falter as those memories returned, of his brother and the children and the futile desire for revenge that had led him where he had ended up ...

The moment he let go of his resistance, he learned nothing was forcing him into anything.

"What about you?" he asked, with nothing but weariness left in his tone.

Kirindi smiled a little and said, "I'm _here_."

She crossed the separation between them and hunched before him, closing her eyes and gently setting her forehead against his, as she always did with her sister.

"Father, I am here and now. Will you know me again?"

Karga'te let go of a breath he had been holding. So the Hunter passed away from his brief resurrection and with him the sight of prey. Her silent laughter was in its stead as the child embraced him. For once, it didn't feel like humiliation.

**· · · · · · ·**


	21. View Answer

**· · · · · · ·**

**· Chapter 21 · View Answer ·**

**· · · · · · ·**

Eliath watched the scene in his own way and found an enigma. The instinct of duty and rhythm of survival were not wide enough for this.

The once-yautja returned the embrace, almost absentmindedly as his thoughts started to get a grasp on reality again, started to piece together the dire situation he now shared merely by joining the hive.

Forgiveness and regret, Eliath knew of their existence, but they had never concerned him. His Mother was asleep and gave no clear answer. Karga'te was part of the hive, but defective. Odygos was also defective, according to Eliath, but not in any way that hindered the execution of their duties, at least not so far. Karga'te did. Yet he was going to live. Kirindi forgave him. It was against logic.

Odygos also responded, he was pleased. Well, that at least Eliath could agree with, even if he did not feel it himself. This situation was not optimal, and he would rather _not_ settle for less. But it was not his choice to make. Mother said he had to cooperate with the hunter. Something to do with _psychological diversity, social relations and adaption powers_. Especially the social relations part was important.

He dared argue. While Eliath understood that he failed the myriad of methods of interaction with other species, he didn't see why Karga'te was useful. Thinking before acting was _not_ beneficent. Mother's drowsy answer was that sometimes, kids should just shut up and observe to learn.

Odygos seemed eager for the understanding and knowledge of all those things. Why not alter him to possess it?

Oh. Mother could not make new identities. Identities grew. It needed time.

Considering time had almost seen Kirindi killed by her 'father figure', Eliath thought it was a horrible ingredient.

Yet, Kirindi was happier than he had ever known her to be. It was senseless, but for her sake Eliath kept low on murderous thoughts towards the hunter. Not because he cared for how it was bad to hurt someone's feelings, but simply a logical pursuit of the order that he was to keep Kirindi in best of health. Happiness, elusive as that concept was, was health. And this at least was an order he wanted to carry out.

The hovercraft too small to transport everyone along, so Karga'te just got on the front seat, with Kirindi leaning on his shoulders as she stood behind him. Eliath was left to run along.

Karga'te was soon started to realize of the full hive and promptly tested out the two new additions.

According to him, Eliath was a straight forward warrior with a healthy dislike of him and Odygos was an idiot with too much pointless thoughts.

Well, the first feeling was mutual and the latter was likely the only opinion they agreed upon.

**· · · · · · ·**

Jake here. He was ebbing into everything. Strange thing. It was silent, he thought of everything as voices.

Old Mother. Ancient Mother. Always there. Had always been there. Aside of her. Asleep. Stagnant. Powerful. Jake didn't get it yet. She didn't get it yet. Sarah didn't get it yet. Didn't get it yet.

Androids. Gynoids. Get them.

They had to talk to an Auton. Autons did not like talking today. They shot today.

She liked Kirindi. Sarah helped. Odygos was a friend. Friends could betray. Karga'te betrayed too. But he was back now. Strange. Jonah had not come back. Karga'te was back. But why?

They shot at Odygos. She did not like that. She tried spitting. She had seen it done. It melted the enemy.

"Oh no, Tishaidi, you killed him ..." Sarah muttered.

"~ Ti'chai-di ~"

Sarah said it wrong. A click after ti, di in a lower tone.

Oh, killed it. That was a negative now. But it was enemy?

"We needed to talk to him," Jake explained.

Jake was good at explaining. He didn't lie, she could tell. Nice.

Another Auton was nearby. She would not spit this time.

Oh, Odygos would do it. That would work. She didn't have enough spit right now anyway.

Kirindi was approaching. She missed her. Not for long. Soon here.

Eliath was scary.

"Sarah, a word with you, ehm ..."

"~ Jake, you can talk telepathically with me. ~

"~ I'm picking up some strange things here ... I don't think I ever left the hivemind ... but I didn't feel the others and ... look, correct me if I'm wrong, but who is Syvé exactly? Ti'chai-di thinks of her as the Old Mother, some sort of super power that could control all xenomorph. Like the Queen Mother, but she's supposed to be dead. ~"

"~ Syvé is something greater. She reigned not because she was in a long war with ... how do I tell you this without sound crazy? The pantheon of the yautja. She won, but was left with too little power after the final battle. ~"

"~ I think I will need more explanation about that yeah ... so, Syvé is going to replace the Queen Mother once she gets free, regenerates and is fully awake. Sarah, the Auton know the Queen Mother had the ability to influence the mentally weak to serve her. Barging in and saying _hi, we want you to team up with her even more powerful replacement_ is probably not going to be very convincing in the ethical department. ~"

"~ We have a similar enemy, and I'm sure the Auton will understand if they know the full situation. Y-921 understood, didn't he? ~"

"~ Y-921 erased his memory to protect us. Sarah, look, the Auton are like, goodguys who want to save the world. We're just serving our own interests right now. No wait, skip that. We're serving the interests of a weapon of mindless mass destruction. ~"

"~ She is not a mindless weapon!~"

"~ Oh come on, calm down. Doesn't this telepathy thing transfer intent or feeling? Look, I feel her too, I know she's not like that, but that's what they will see her as. ~"

"~ You feel– oh, right. You're still human. Hope you won't develop full fledged empathy. That will ruin you. ~"

"~ You don't have empathy? ~"

"~ I do, I meant empathy as a sixth sense. It makes one feel others emotions. Be glad you'll soon become something that won't be bothered by that. ~"

"~ I'm not sure whether I like that. ~"

She felt their emotions. Or maybe her own reflections of them. Couldn't tell. They seemed tiny. Felt tiny. But she was curious. It gave something to focus on.

Odygos got an android. Jake got robes. No, ropes. Ties. Sound language, that was such a weird thing. Got could mean totally different things. Probably why lying worked so well with it.

The android had expressions. Fake fear. Trepidation. Anger. Hesitation. None of them. But it looked like it. Their hive mind was different. She couldn't get it.

"Listen to me, please. We are here to negotiate, tell Anudja—" Sarah said in hurried words.

"We suspect what she is. Don't waste your time trying to win our trust, you are no longer yourself."

That was a funny thought. Was sharing minds making someone different? Into the hivemind here, was that changing? Not true anymore, once you were.

Sarah flinched slightly. Stopped. Waited. Stored that thought. Weird. To Ti'chai-di, it was another question, just to ask Kirindi later, maybe. She tended to forget.

Ti'chai-di changed focus and tuned in to Karga'te. He did not like her eavesdropping. But he did not notice now, so no harm done.

The worm was amusing anyway. They always had been, with that game of theirs.

"~ Oh look, you're a little bit less of a bastard now. How did that happen? ~"

"~ Shut up, Hguthreeit. We're in trouble, help out already! ~"

"~ Oh yes, the androids are really curious at the location of your girl ... and her company. ~"

"~ What? How much do you know? ~"

"~ Let's see, I know little Kirindi has been hiding two xenomorph drones from you for quite some time now. Their mom sent a messenger for some reason. You're all in deep shit now. That's about it. ~"

"~ Then you know enough. So? ~"

"~ You know what's hilarious? That this is what it took for you to figure out you don't actually hate being glomped. ~"

"~ Oh, would _you_ like to try? ~" He sent along a mental image of decapitated worm.

Hguthreeit thanked him by sending back an image of Karga'te's lunch turning sentient and making a move on him, and a sarcastic compliment on Karga'te's originality.

Karga'te replied with the psychic equivalent of soaking the house with gasoline and lighting a match, rather than his usual hurl-the-furniture-out-of-the-window method.

It actually worked a little, and the worm turned more serious now.

"~ So, what is the story anyway? ~"

"~ There is a human somewhere out there, from those Enigma stations, she's that queen's ambassador and currently the only one really attuned to her. Want answers, get her. ~"

"~ If those data obsessed idiots would have any common sense, they would contact _me_ and ask what _I_ can get to know about you. All they said so far is that you might be a traitor if you return, being brainwashed by something. ~"

"~ Looks like I'm going to have to kick out their legs from underneath them. ~"

"~ Hm, take over the android headquarters? Sure, why not? We had this plateau first anyway, they're only renting. ~"

"~ Are you okay with getting involved? ~" Kirindi sent.

"~ Those Enigma machines were destroyed already, I'm pretty sure soon humans will come to figure out what screwed up their superweapons and how. This market will have to be evacuated. Better make sure we have all forces here in tune with me, cause I can tell you the evacuation _won't _happen in time. ~"

Ooh, they were going to play hostile take over! She knew that game, she had learned it from Jonah before he turned enemy! It was the very first thing they had played!

Sarah flinched for the second time. Both humans turned their heads to Ti'chai-di, eyes wide open.

"Karga'te wants to do _what_ now?" Jake said.

**· · · · · · ·**

Three xenomorphs with some yautja, human and Deinonychus thrown in, arrived at a gate in a far side of the plateau. It was a tourist exit, for those interested in exploring the area, like many others opening again now, but this one remained off access : the associated halls were to be used for organizing a military effort.

Karga'te and Kirindi held responsibility for the overall safety of the market, but for the many minor disputes that needed little force to resolve — and more tact than Karga'te could muster — there was another faction of guards. These consisted of slightly larger worms from Hguthreeit's planet. They had significantly less psychic power, but made up for it with strength. In addition, today there were several frequent traders who held good relations with Hguthreeit, they had provided some armed warriors. With the risk of the human empire discovering the market, anything that would speed up evacuation of their precious goods would help. Toppling a few artificial lifeforms? Certainly not a problem.

The lot had been informed of the arrival of a xenomorph and it had caused little stir, Ti'chai-di had become a common sight, after all. At most, Eliath caused confusion, he was not what they expected. With his avian movement and sharper build, Eliath looked more feral than unknowable, which was a little too close home for several. Karga'te thought them fools for it.

Hguthreeit was not present, he had gone undercover just in case the androids got ideas of holding him hostage. One never know to what point "goodguys" would be willing to compensate their standards, after all. From his hideout he would organize the take over using purely telepathic means. Karga'te let him handle strategy, he had something else on his mind.

The hivemind was stronger than ever before, now Kirindi no longer hid the drones. They were overpowering without trying, but easy to understand. Jake he already knew and Shadhahvar's chaos head was less than that of Ti'chai-di. Sarah was the only thing that bothered him, so he kept her at a distance. What exactly he disliked about her was still elusive, but when she arrived he started to understand. He had a sister much like her.

While Jake stepped off of Ti'chai-di the moment they entered, Sarah let Odygos carry her to the hall's center first. Something about her whole attitude, how she seemed to come down from a mount rather than an ally, the way she looked around as if evaluating everything. A repressed sense of superiority dominated her behavior. She acted and thought like she way a key of importance in cosmic events, but she didn't have the same regard for the others as important too. As if being a messenger was that much better than any other type of drone.

At first she thought he just wasn't skilled enough to consciously contact her, but now they met eye to eye, it did not take her long to realize he was keeping her at bay. It was her who was unskilled, to Karga'te her dissent and confusion was clear as day.

He was perched atop a small spacecraft, the highest point of the hall and. She saw him as arrogant for choosing that position. Ironic, considering she thought she knew so well. Sure, he sat here like he owned the place, but that was because he pretty much did. He was going to lead the battle with the androids, after all, why have pretenses about servitude?

She glared at him as she walked past. According to her, his earlier actions should mean he should torment himself and instantly become humble about everything, as if making a mistake — no matter how intense — instantly meant a rewrite of personality. Alright, that was it. Roaring insults at her would make a bad impression on his little army, so he just did the silent variation of it : he bombarded Sarah with the psychedelic equivalent of a kainde amedha choir, curtsy of Shadhahvar's mind.

Both her walk and her thought process stopped and she visible cringed.

"~ How I deal with my mistakes is none of your business. Learn your place, ~" he sent with a rattle.

Sarah gave no outward sign of recognition, but mentally steeled herself. Amateurishly, at that. Karga'te hadn't realized before today how much of an advantage he had with just eight years of being linked to Kirindi. To think that spirit speech had skill levels.

"There used to be a time when people greeted each other with things like handshakes, hello and exchanging names. I remember that, the long ages of an hour ago," Jake said with a sigh. Poorly receptive as he was, he had not realized Karga'te's greeting till he detected Sarah's somewhat pained expression and Shadhahvar's confusion.

"Apparently not here," Sarah grumbled. At that, Kirindi hopped up to her and hugged Sarah's right arm.

"It's okay now," she assured her. "Really. Don't be angry anymore?"

Everything about Sarah said it _wasn't_ okay, except her mind's voice. Disappointed, Kirindi noticed. Sarah just ignored the hunter from then on and went to the nearest important looking person. Odygos and Eliath had next to no qualms about killing and were a little too agreeing with Karga'te on the Auton not counting as life, so she wanted to ensure that the survival of the Auton was understood as a necessity.

Her effort to telepathically speak were wasted, since Hguthreeit addressed her almost at once. After flatly stating she was not skilled enough to communicate with these people, he assured her the survival of the Auton was a priority. He would prefer if she did not contact their allies here, there were certain details he would prefer they would not know. Then, much to Kirindi and Jake's pleasure, he did do a traditional hello. Traditional for his culture, anyway, which involved throwing coughed up hairballs at one another. Sarah didn't mind at all that this part was psychically simulated, rather than physical.

"~ So, miss Sarah, when can we expect your keepers to show up here? ~" Hguthreeit asked.

"~ Utara will not let them come when there is a chance that the humans might discover what state I am in, because that will inevitably lead to them finding out that what ut is up to. It will make certain they don't gain an interest in me along the way. ~"

"~ Why does it want to come here? ~"

"~ I think for Ti'chai-di. I'm speculating here, but Syvé agrees with me. Utara needs the chimera for something. Anyway, who are all these people here, can we really trust them? ~"

"~ As certain as the stock they hold in this city. Granted, I have had to tell them this is merely a clean up session, since Auton overstepped their bounds by threatening the city guards. If my marketeers find out anything beyond that, it's going to get as ugly as a sapient xenomorph queen taking over the world could inspire. ~"

"~ Alright. What have you told them about the drones? ~"

"~ That they obey the queen, which they is Ti'chai-di. I considered telling them Kirindi held the reigns, but she is too controlled and that may be an issue if something goes wrong. Am I correct in assuming unpredictable behavior by those two? ~"

Sarah had to smile, casting a sideway glance at Odygos. "~ Perhaps. ~"

"~ Well then. One more thing. I would appreciate it if you tried cooperating with Karga'te. He knows his place already. ~"

"~ But he's, he tried to kill her, he can't just get over it like that. I don't think he— ~"

"~ Lives will be forfeit today for the off chance that the Auton will listen. Your arrival may not have been in your control, but you might at least think about what your cause is about to cost us. I'll repeat what he said, his errors are his to deal with, not yours. You have greater issues to concern yourself with. ~"

Sarah sighed and mentally nodded.

"~ You are right, I will keep my mind focused on my task. ~"

"~ Excellent. Remind me later that I owe you to give some suggestions on how to get on Karga'te nerves. ~" With that, he sent her some quick information on the feud he held with the hunter and Sarah could not help but grin.

"~ Hey, Hguthreeit, while you're at offering her stuff, why not teach her how to keep her thoughts to herself? I'm still picking your chattering. ~" Karga'te threw in.

Sarah quietly reminded herself she had more dignity than to take bait.

**· · · · · · ·**

Odygos was content. The plan was back on track, he would be able to carry out his duty. Best yet, this was all so entertaining compared to the monotone time underwater.

Sarah was amazing. He had never really met her when she was not fully under his mother's guidance, let alone away from Enigma's oppression. She did emotions _all the time_. Especially hate. Personally he preferred the emotion of joy, but since Karga'te also did a lot of anger, it probably was going to be theme. Eliath was also contributing his touches of negativity and Ti'chai-di had this weird desire to kill something all the time because her own children died a lot. Oh, and Ti'chai-di liked Sarah, they both hated Jonah. Silly mind, they were so different.

Anger got old quickly, but now there were so many different variations of it. He anticipated seeing them all clash. It had already started with Karga'te and Sarah. Though, it made Kirindi sad. Sadness was something like the opposite of fun. He disliked it, unlike the potential of anger.

In contrast, the imitation humans he was ripping apart right now didn't seem to do emotions at all. Really weird, they did have expressions. The flesh covered metal from before had not bothered with that at all, according to Eliath. Kirindi claimed these things here _were_ alive but hidden, much like a different hive is telepathically somewhat sealed. Karga'te said they _weren't_ alive, because they were just very advanced machinery.

Conflicting theories. Hmmm ... _irritating_.

Oh well. Overall, this hostile take over thing was delicious. Hguthreeit had made the plan and produced some technology that sent waves ahead, which would slow down the androids and their cooperation. Something like that. Karga'te made some creative improvements on the actual invasion plan, and now they led the swarm of marketeers, armed to the teeth, into the halls of the androids. Strategy was fascinating, now why couldn't he have an instinct for that?

It was too easy to make them stop, the fake humans. They shot at him, but he kept too much cover. There was pain when his back's tubes were hit, his head scraped, but that was trivial in face of the mixture of chaotic emotions and information he was now experiencing. Stimuli!

Oh look, that was the Auton who had helped them on the Enigma II station. 921-Y. Kirindi had said he had forgotten all to protect them. Especially don't hurt him, he will probably be an ally again.

Too bad this Y-921 was currently shooting at him, right from a hall where Odygos needed to go for the plan. See, there was one particular Auton he had to obtain while the others got to wreck a power source. Now why couldn't he do that? He'd done it before.

Irritated, he leaped out at Y-921 and tore off a leg.

Lots of white blood. Maybe went a little too far?

Regret is pointless, Eliath randomly told him. Odygos wondered whether he had missed something, then remembered he should stop now. Don't destroy their cores. Future helpers.

He passed an open space a little too late, he was hit. Screeching he fell to the ground, pain shooting up through his leg.

Now this was so not supposed to happen.

Distracted by his thoughts. Maybe Eliath had a point about contemplation being bad and _duty_ the only duty they should focus on.

Enemy approached. Stupid.

He faked having trouble getting up, when they were close he rolled aside and slashed his injured leg, sending a spray of acid their way.

A moment's stopping, they had reflexes like a human. He snatched the nearest weapon he saw and threw back the ex-owner at the others with his tail. They stepped aside and aimed again. There were two more who opened fire right when disappeared into the next hall. It cost him a fair bit of his tail.

The weapon he'd taken lay clumsy in his hands and Sarah could tell him no more than that he was to aim and pull the trigger. Whether he had the necessary hand coordination —

Oh, look, more enemies. Hguthreeit, where is the life core located in the bodies? There? Right. Avoiding them, he fired.

— wouldn't be much of a problem with his rapid neurological processing. Sarah sent him that he must look silly, such a huge drone with a tiny humanoid weapon. She was starting to enjoy the game too, now that he was ensuring nobody would die. Did androids feel pain? Sarah said it depended on the model, but right now he should keep focus and find Anudjan.

Halls, walls, some allies appeared from a sideway, having claimed that section. Excellent.

Oh, crap no.

Note for the future : do not aim weapons in general direction of allies even in the simple act of turning. It makes them run away. Apparently, being on the same side was not sufficient conviction of reduced hostility.

So why did Karga'te get away with some much taunting towards double eye wormy? Hguthreeit let him know he would be willing to five a lengthy explanation on the facts of that, let it suffice for now that it was game that he was winning. Just so he knew. Now proceed, please?

Odygos complied and picked up a few more weapons once the first ran out of munition. Some had bullets, others were lasers. The latter has no backdraft when fired and so were a little easier to use. He could hit things, though not as perfect as Sarah wanted. Still, he roughly got it done.

This almost got boring.

Ah, there was his target. Anudjan, it was called by sound.

Odygos took out the last few androids in his way and leaped, throwing the fake human to the ground. He set his weight on him to keep him down, but Sarah told him to have him stand; he was dripping acid on him. So he pulled him up and positioned him before the nearest passageway, from which he knew Sarah would soon emerge.

"Soon" was about a quarter of an hour, considering she had been waiting outside till everything was secure. It was the other allies that arrived first, they cautiously lined around the chamber he and his captive were in. Quickly they started dragging away the injured fake humans, all the while staying as far from Odygos as possible. He wondered why, he wasn't aiming a weapon at them.

Fear, Sarah explained shortly before her arrival. She herself had it too, but for reasons that were not him. She feared failure, for some reason.

When she finally stepped into the now clean room, she took a deep breath, pulled some strands of hair out of face and said, "I am here on behalf of Noasyvé, who wishes to ally herself with the Auton. She offers her service in overthrowing the Enigma faction. Anudjan, please hear us out."

He only nodded, since Odygos had bled away the chunk of his neck where his vocal simulator was.

**· · · · · · ·**

Persephone tapped her fingertips against one another and simulated a contemplative human. Sarah knew the model, they were meant to deceive; that they had called her in to speak on behalf of the somewhat damaged Anudjan was not encouraging. Anudjan himself sat aside of her, opposite of Sarah. A quick patch had been made to ensure he would not 'bleed' too much anymore, and a wire came out of his neck attaching to Persephone. In lieu of the wireless transmission, which had been disabled shortly before the take over, it was the best they could do.

Sarah had told them everything she knew, as elaborately as possible. Now she waited.

"How am I supposed to tell this to the others?" Persephone started. "In a war with another superforce, a sapient xenomorph queen lost because none of her soldiers had free will, so once her telepathy was disturbed they ceased to be organized, while the enemy remained so. So this queen sought the Chimera DNA to speed up an experiment in creating a human filter for mind control, one that would serve her voluntarily. How she intends to circumcise the problems of her own mindless drones is not yet resolved, I presume?"

"No, it is not. But I can assure you that even with lessened control by her, the drones will be able to listen to reason. Have Eliath and Odygos done anything to—"

"They were being controlled by the chimera sisters. Let me finish, miss Donovinh. This queen gets betrayed in the middle of her experiment by a forcefully controlled puppet, who rebelled against the mindrape. As emergency, Karga'te was appointed guardian of Kirindi. Assuming the transformation cause works as you describe, we can consider it reasonable. That is what I would tell them. What do you think will happen next?"

Sarah looked at Anudjan, but he didn't respond in any way. He just looked at her with calm gray eyes.

"Questions would come, miss Donovinh. What we cannot consider reasonable is that these two run off and just _happen to_ coincidentally be picked up by us, causing us to learn about Ti'chai-di, causing us to visit Enigma II, which happens to be where your queen is. Once we send Kirindi there, she befriends the ex-friend of Jonah, who happens to be the bond master of Ti'chai-di. There are a lot of contrived coincidences there. Can you explain them in a way that doesn't place your mistress as a master manipulator?"

"Weren't you tailing the efforts of the rogue yautja already for those eggs? You being in the neighborhood to find those two wasn't that large a coincidence."

"True, but —" Anudjan had looked aside, it seemed to Sarah that Persephone had been going off track. Persephone sighed a little too humanlike, and continued, "Well then. Can you offer us any answers from your queen's point of view?"

"No, but I promise I will find out. Right now, Syvé is in an enforced sleep and has been unable to clearly communicate. The injuries she sustained in fighting her enemy have not healed, and they hinder her. I trust she will explain everything once she is free."

"You trust her. We cannot. What is so special about the eggs that spawned the chimera sisters, where did they come from? Can you at least answer that?"

"I do not know that either. They are unique, but not that special. It's more that they have a rogue function, they're something that gives a short cut in manipulating a particular outcome. They are only useful to Syvé because she knows what to do with them," Sarah explained.

"Manipulating_?_ Sarah. Don't you think it's all like a game, and we're the pawns?" Persephone made a convincing expression of concern, almost seemed empathetic, but Sarah didn't want to let that influence her.

"Noasyvé is not reasoning like humans, or androids. You cannot comprehend her right and wrong."

"I don't think I want to. Your have not given us a lot of answers. Now, we may be quick thinkers, but we are individuals. Give us some time to consult with each other and analyze for what decision to reach," Persephone said. It was not a request.

**· · · · · · ·**


	22. Incomplete Information

**· · · · · · ·**

May 15, 2578

**· · · · · · ·**

Karga'te had a little used apartment in one of the pillars. Well, apartment ... technically it was the head quarters of the city guards, but few really cared to be official about it. With a telepathic supervisor, there was no need for a physical meeting place. So, these headquarters had degenerated into a hangout place for who ever needed to have some rest and even _that_ purpose was being neglected a lot, for some reason. Ti'chai-di was its most frequent resident now, since it was one of the few places in the city where she could sleep peacefully or have wounds treated.

The hunter arrived long before the others, grabbed some food and withdraw. Sarah, unable to take a cue, repeatedly tried to contact him with her inexperienced telepathy, but he was not in the mood for her. Instead, he sought out the "throne room" of the chimera sisters.

By honored hunter standards, the place was an affront. Messy, slimy, disorganized and what few skulls present were used as tables. There were channels carved in the floor to deal with the excess slime and grooves in the wall for Ti'chai-di's imperfect wax. He'd taken a lot of effort arranging it for the sisters, then told himself it was just so he could put them somewhere if he didn't feel like having them around. That never had happened.

Grumbling, he went to the bed — as far as the sticky hides could be called that — and dropped down face first and stayed that way until his breath ran out. This lasted twenty times longer than it should. Twenty times during which he was forced to think.

He could have left any time. Eight years and he hadn't even thought of it. Eight years without any desire to rampage against anyone, Kirindi least of all. Eight years alive when he could have been dead, and life with Kirindi admittedly was better than anything he'd lived before. No humiliation, total control over everything he did and friendly company, even if friendliness wasn't always what he wanted.

"Fuck it, Meidache was right about me being born bad blood." Karga'te didn't like to be left alone with his thoughts.

"~ But bad blood means a different thing for you, ~" said Kirindi gently. He turned over, just in time to see her peek in the door. She slipped in, closed it and hopped onto the bed, sitting cross legged aside of him. Karga'te sat up as well. She was here to talk, not for herself and she was probably was right that he did need it. Dammit.

He breathed out and said it.

"Why are you loyal to me? I didn't choose to be your father."

"I chose you cause I knew you'd like me."

"Did you know I'd betray you, back when you chose to save me?"

"I don't foresee," she said and tilted her head. "Cannot feel the future. It's doesn't exist yet. Can only expect on what I know now."

"Right."

"I don't understand what you feel now. Why do you want me to be angry with you?" She looked genuinely surprised. "Makes no sense, why? I don't feel you wanting chaos between us."

"I've done something very much like today before. Well, not exactly like today. I got away without a scratch, that's why I stayed stupid enough to repeat it."

"So?"

Karga'te growled in frustration. "I betrayed you, I should have to earn your trust back. At the very least you could lash out against me and rub it into my face what exactly I did wrong."

"Alright."

She climbed on his shoulders and leaned forward, looking into his face upside down. Lightly, she flicked a claw against his upper mandibles.

"Now I did."

He sighed.

"What do you really want? Saying some crap about loyalty and staying with me doesn't count. That's just your instinct."

She opened her mouth, but closed it again.

"Dammit, I'm trying to make up for what I did. Work along."

"But instinct is part of me. I want the hive together and happy. All of us."

"What about those Enigma people, who harmed your sister?"

"I want them to stop."

"Do you want revenge?"

"No. Just stopping."

"_I_ want revenge for a lot of things, can you feel it?"

"I can be angry and go after people, but once the anger is gone, I ... no."

"How about remorse? Regret?"

"I know you have them, but to me they don't mean anything," she said softly.

"Then I guess I am not enough hardmeat to be free of those things." Karga'te raised his arm and looked at the wound, which was already knitting back together. Kirindi looked along with him but far deeper, sending him an image of how his arm and then his whole body looked from the inside.

"But soon enough." She stepped off his shoulder and sat at his side. "What do I want ... no doubt. I don't like your doubt, it confuses. Is that like hate and regret, you can't stop doing it? I want that to be gone."

He shook his head and rattled thrice, but didn't give her a telepathic answer. "This is retarded. Can't even be simple about bloody emotional crap," he muttered.

"It's okay that you're bad at this," Kirindi said with a little laughter. "It's okay."

"It's not to me."

"If we ever meet your family again, they can join the new family and you'll use telepathy and you'll see everyone is bad at it."

"I suppose you're right. So now what?"

"Now I make new dolls," she said happily, "... and you could make new peace with Sarah."

Karga'te groaned. Luckily Kirindi didn't care to understand regret about having offered to do something for her.

**· · · · · · ·**

In the gloom of Enigma II she had never noticed. Her hair was still blond, but was no longer translucent. Instead the core was black with a layer of blond over it. Odygos looked along as she peered at a snapped strand. It became boring after a second, but Sarah kept lingering on it and playing with thoughts about something called transhumanism. Really, she already knew she was not human anymore. Why keep thinking about the same thing over and over?

How about exploring the city? She apologized, whatever that was supposed to mean, by letting him feel she was too tired. Ah, so she was thinking about it because it would be less boring than not thinking at all, when she could not move? How about a game then?

Sarah could not play the chaos games he sometimes entertained Ti'chai-di with. She didn't understand the rules and it made her head hurt. And there she apologized again.

Well, if improving Sarah's mental state was not optional, on to a secondary task : housekeeping. Sarah was lying down on this large leather thing called a bench, right under some trivial decoration, a tyrannosaur skull. How tacky. Other than that though, Odygos was content with the new location. The rough rock that made up the walls would be perfect for a nice, thick wax to keep up the humidity and warmth. There were windows that face the sun if it was low, which would help the warmth. He would begin building as soon as he had dealt with the smaller parts of housekeeping, namely the wardrobe. This room just happened to be where the yautja had dropped his armor.

Karga'te was part of the hive and should survive, so until Mother could complete his transformation and give him a true, thick hide he would need better protection than these pathetic metal sheet. It seemed silly to wear this type of armor, left his upper legs, upper arms and stomach exposed while covering his head where his echo location ought to be now.

He took off the soles of the boots, bled on some annoying parts that wouldn't part and weren't supposed to part until now. Then he carefully started secreting the special wax that would eventually harden to the resistance of metal, yet with a greater flexibility.

_WHAM_, Karga'te's awareness barged in and metaphorically hollered, _Here I am, pay attention! _His body followed a moment later when he kicked the door open.

"What is that thing doing with my armor?" he snarled.

"He is improving it for you," Sarah said a little sharper than necessary, pushing up from her bench. "It's not his fault he does not understand the concept of property."

"I did not ask for that! Raise it better."

"There is nothing to raise! He isn't my pet, he is _a member of our hive_!"

Odygos continued working undisturbed, it as apparent to him that Karga'te was fully aware of the purpose and use of the armor improvements, he just liked being nitpicky. A little like Eliath. Karga'te was was deliberately using the word 'thing' because he knew it would vex Sarah. That was not tactful. However, Sarah's unrestrained telepathic afterthrow was not tactful either, even if it was involuntary.

_You are the one who should know your place, you idiot. I'm the messenger and you're the ward._ How annoying it must be for the complex minds, to have so much opinions to accidentally leak.

"Today, I nearly killed Kirindi. This is the worst time you could be pissing me off."

Odygos made a mental note to discover what the best time was, then told Sarah Karga'te had realized her opinion. An _Oh crap_ moment followed, but for some reason she did not think this was suitable for apologizing. Another mental note he made, find out this mysterious rhythm to apologizing.

"Oh, so you do feel bad about it? Well, you were merely subject to a variant of reaction formation and you've overcome it. You should be proud of that, at least, I know people who haven't been able to handle hive rejection properly."

"Reaction formation? Call it what you want. I have my reasons for mistrusting living weapons."

"You're one of those yourself now," Sarah said too monotonously. She crossed her arms and looked out of the window, uneasy with Karga'te's demanding telepathic attention.

Odygos was amused how quickly the theme had stopping being about what he was doing with Karga'te's armor. This was a good time to invent laughter. His throat didn't work for that, but he was certain he could simulate it.

"Oh, I get it. You're spiteful because your best friend Jonah didn't and that bastard alien did," Karga'te said with a cynical chuckle. "That's why you're so noxious. Is there a name fancy name for that too, I wonder?"

Sarah didn't erupt with rage, but she did sink into a particularly bitter state of mind and contemplated to on how to give him a good lecture about his own attitude. Odygos reminded her to be patient. For now, the yautja was only on his own side, so would the chimera sisters be, and they needed him to be accepting of the fact he was part of the hive.

Sarah held up her hands in a gesture that somehow was supposed to be peaceful. Weird. "Please, I'm not trying to start a fight." Odygos liked that she took his advice. Alright, let's try laughter.

"Karga'te, listen. We are at the doorstep of a unique event. Noasyvé will replace the Queen Mother and restore order to the galaxy. But first, we need to conquer that one enemy. Enigma II's Utara likely is a surviving segment of an intelligent computer virus, the one that once wiped the colonies and caused humans to forget about the xenomorph and the invasion to earth. Utara is trying to grow a new body and needs Ti'chai-di to be the womb. If she escapes — Odygos, are you laughing? This is not funny."

Success! Mental note : these seems to be good and bad times for laughing too. Sarah didn't catch on that his reason for laughing was something else, or maybe he had laughed the wrong way.

"Did I just hear a hiccuping xenomorph?" Jake said as he stepped into the room.

"How the heck does an entire species forget about something like the kainde amedha anyway?" Karga'te muttered.

"The Big Deletion occurred some centuries ago, collapsing most of mankind's colonies. No more evidence. Yet from the scraps of civilization, humans reemerged and become powerful again. That's why this market is freaking out. Humans just _won't die out_," Jake said. "So, about the hiccuping, Odygos said five seconds ago it was supposed to be laughter but —"

"Can we get back on topic, please?" Sarah said.

"Yes, the topic, that was about how dumb I was, right? You must be an expert on stupidity, Sarah," Karga'te said.

"Hear who's talking. You, a yautja, lived here _eight_ _years _in a human-made atmosphere. It never crossed your mind that _hey, maybe I should have choked to death some time between then and now_? Yes, I do think I am a little bit entitled to be the educator here."

"For your information, I've seen freakier things come to pass than me adapting to this atmosphere. Hell, my wounds healing as quickly as they did is exactly like those freaky things."

"You are not of the Ash Generation, if that's what you mean." At least not to her knowledge, Odygos reminded her.

"I was talking about someone with Cursed Eyes developing sight, fire burning on nothing but air and hundred armed goddesses rampaging through temples."

Sarah had nothing on that. Cursed Eyes might just be some illness, fire already used oxygen but generally needed a source, but goddesses? Ooh, stumped humans were tickly. Odygos wasn't allowed to tell her anything — Mother said something about respect for personal memories being necessary to get voluntary drones — so he just opted to say that he wasn't lying. Sarah insisted that if that was true, he must be misinterpreting something radically. Figuring out what that was might take a while.

"Speaking of the supernatural, I want to know why I am here. Your queen must have hinted you _something_."

"Could you be clearer?"

"Let's just say they are certain events in the past that make it insanely coincidental and ironic that I find myself in this position."

"Well, you were elected from a limited number of rogue entities. I suppose there might be some spite involved to the Matriarch of the Hunters, considering —"

"The Matriarch of the Hunters? We don't have a single ruler. The male hunters fall under the matriarchy on the home planet, which consists of thousands of factions."

"Oh, they _do _have a single Matriarch. She's something like Syvé, she has extended awareness, a court and certain powers. She is technically weaker than our Mother, but all her people have individuality. Her court can continue acting on a plan even if their matriarch is hindered. Syvé's hive on the other hand is weak when she herself is weak, that's why she needs us independent members. That's roughly all I know, I'm sure Syvé will expand once she is completely free. Now my turn. What dramatic irony?"

"None of your business."

"Now I think of it, why did you run off with the egg, instead of handing it over to your leader?"

"I _did _hand it over. I just took it back when the bargain turned out to be a hoax. Anyway, that Matriarch I am guessing is Paya, does that make Syvé the Black Warrior?"

"I suppose you could see it that way, but I wouldn't try to seek too much parallels between the gods and reality."

"I need to think. Don't bother me." Karga'te spun around, pushed past Jake and vanished.

Sarah almost said he had had so much time to think already and this was no place to end a conversation, but Jake broadly waved his arms in an off-cutting motion. She swallowed her words and kept her thoughts quiet.

The rest of the evening, Odygos spent by having chaotic mental games with Shadhahvar and Ti'chai-di in tandem. He experienced a headache for the first time ever and so Sarah could explains a little bit better about apologies for declining games. Odygos decided that sapience was the best game ever.

**· · · · · · ·**

Karga'te had little experience with putting up mental walls. After having realized Kirindi and later Ti'chai-di would never mock him or think of something as humiliating, he hadn't bothered to learn. His sole edge over Sarah, who had spent months engaging in highly aware communication just to pick up on the slightest bit of awareness of her queen, was that telepathy was casual to him. He realized very quickly that Sarah was a little too specialized in focus to be able to process the overall telepathic landscapes. All he had to do was make a lot of mental noise whenever she focused on him and she never noticed there were secret thoughts flying around. That kept her busy till she finally fell asleep.

As this happened, both the physical and mental space become quieter than he had experienced in a long time. Even Shadhahvar was unusually peaceful. Strange, he had expected it to be busier, even with Sarah asleep. Instead, it just appeared _wider_.

Sarah cuddled up in a stack of furs, Odygos curled around her. A quick mental brush told him she was having visions with her queen, but he had no interest in meeting that one yet.

Kirindi had claimed Eliath in a similar way, back in her own room. Her mind too was having visions as Sarah did, though Eliath was sharply aware of the here and now. Nice guard dog, Karga'te poked.

Where was the big sister?

Ti'chai-di no longer needed to be Kirindi's comfort pillow and she could not truly sleep. She loved Kirindi, but did not love sitting still for long times, so she gladly left that to Eliath.

Karga'te found her in the bath, which meant the floor was flooded. Sitting down at the edge of the bath, he quietly addressed her. With Jake and Sarah he could simply speak English or his own language, they'd get the gist telepathically without much of his effort, but to have any sort of complex conversation with Ti'chai-di, he needed to put in a lot of effort.

This hardmeat queen, Syvé would have galaxy wide psychic control, however the heck that worked. He didn't doubt she could do things Sarah's limited rationality could not imagine. If we worked for this creature, she might do him favors in return. He needed just one concerning something he had abandoned years ago. But if this was true ...

Nra'tex-ne wouldn't be happy with his methods, if he indeed was still alive. Karga'te didn't care. Nra'tex-ne could go his own way after this was all over. The past where brother and brother hunted together he had already put behind him, but at the very least he wanted his him to be safe. As difficult as it was to face, that sentiment counted for his inlaws too.

"~ What do you think, Ti'chai-di? ~"

Thinking was not something she often paused to do. After a long time of wondering, she told Karga'te that if the Mother could alter even Karga'te, then perhaps she could alter her too so that her children would no longer die. To Karga'te story, she had not particular to say, or so it appeared at first. The images she showed him of her dying offspring _were_ a response to something similar he recalled. Malformed hybrid fetuses, carelessly dropped on the ground and the mercy of death to them. Two had survived. It had something in common, however distantly.

"~ I swore to protect those children and I threw that oath away. I guess today I did it again. ~"

She met his memories as if they were her own children, even if she could not grasp the more complex things surrounding it. All she knew was lost children and the need to keep family together. That she had perfect sympathy for.

Curious all of the sudden, Karga'te asked her, "Could _you _forgive me? For what I have done?"

Yes, she said, but she could take it back any time. It didn't matter that she didn't fully understand, this was good enough. He grinned in his yautja way, mandibles clattering. Perhaps the sister's lack of wrath was a nice counterbalance to Tex's most likely reaction upon learning certain things.

**· · · · · · ·**

"I want payment," Karga'te said the next morning.

Sarah looked up from her breakfast, baffled. "But ... how can you ask payment for ..."

_For being inside a loving and unique family and getting superpowers, you selfish jerk._

Karga'te let a deep rumble escape his throat. "I'm sure being loud and open with your thoughts was handy on Enigma, but here you should learn to be discrete."

Far away, a certain alien worm found this hilarious, which he made sure was noticed. Jake and Shadhahvar, one on each end of the table, could not help but burst into laughter when

"I won't serve her out of a sense of honor or some misplaced idea of family loyalty. I live, but she brought me in danger in the first place. It was her hive that I was dying in, wasn't it? I owe her nothing, especially not Kirindi or Ti'chai-di."

"Fine. What kind of payment?"

"Kirindi, you want to serve her," Karga'te said. "Tell Sarah why."

She tilted her head and smiled. "Cause I like this hive and I think it will be a happy one."

"All I will tell you is that what I want is something similar to that and it is nothing that would harm Syvé's plans. And no, I am not giving you or anyone in this room any details. What I said I should be enough."

"You said very little, fine, if what you claim is true, then Syvé will likely indulge you. She is capable of certain kindness even when it does not directly serve her plans."

Karga'te and Kirindi exchanged a glance, then the yautja walked off.

"Thank you," Kirindi then said.

Anudjan called later that morning, asking for another meeting. Karga'te caught Shadhahvar at a computer, failing miserably at hiding how much fun she had with answering.

"Yeah, Sarah and Karga'te are doing a speed course in being annoying siblings. Yesterday, they've been through flailing toddlers making a fuss over stolen toys and they're now reaching the end of screeching preteens. Witnessing the teenage _you just don't understand me _phase here. I'd say they're going to need to at least reach their thirties or forties before being they'll remember you people exist."

"Tell them that I'm now working for the goddess of death and they can arrange for Sarah to go back to her little underworld."

Shadhahvar turned around sheepishly. "I wasn't trying to make you sound bad, really."

Karga'te rolled his eyes. "Sure." He was about to walk off when he noticed something off. Shadhahvar still was not quite that chaos anymore.

The moment he telepathically reached out, curious, she said, "Jake wants to go home."

He couldn't see her face as it was hidden by her hair, she looked down at the touchboard. For what little he ventured into her mind, nothing complex he found and only a very simple sadness. Karga'te had not been paying attention to Jake, but Shadhahvar had known him for years. For all her stupidity, _she_ apparently _had_ noticed something.

"I don't know much about the human world," Karga'te said. "If he wants to live as a hunted outcast, maybe that suits him. But if the creature we're working for has the powers I suspect she has, she could help him at least in some way to find a save place to live. Maybe bring home there."

"Huh? I don't get it."

"I'm saying that if you two can make yourselves useful to our little death goddess, give it a try."

Now looking up, she smiled. "Oh, you'd like us to stay. I thought you didn't."

Karga'te shrugged and walked off again, but mentally and physically.

**· · · · · · ·**

Twenty two hours later and another talk with Sarah, the Auton had reached a decision. They would be ready, should Syvé call for help.

Sarah returned to her spacecraft with a well plotted story about mutant dinosaurs, chaos theory and a few complimentary injuries to accentuate the _roaming the wilderness cyborg-deprived to get back to my ship _part.

Y-921 was to escort Sarah there. While his memory was gone, he was assigned to the subject of handling xenomorph-auton interactions due to his personality. He had judged right (it seemed) once, perhaps it would help.

Who were not to escort her were Kirindi and Odygos, but they went along nevertheless, at least as far as it was safe. They had a last meeting in the shadow of a rock formation, far out of sight of the ship's area scanners and Kirindi being Kirindi, hugs were involved. Sarah wasn't used to extensive affection, but it was difficult letting go today.

Once free, she said to Kirindi, "Hold on to this for me, will you?" In her hands she laid an old toothbrush.

Kirindi nodded and said, "Off course. I'll give it back to you soon."

Odygos being Odygos, he didn't understand what her hesitation to go to work about about. He understood missing, he had missed her and would do so again, but that was because it was his task to protect her. Her task did not involve him, did it?

Sarah laid a hand on Odygos' forehead and hunched down before him.

"It's got a lot to do fears," Sarah said. "... but you wouldn't know them."

He did not understand the need for a word of farewell, since he had never truly needed words, but he said goodbye anyway.

**· · · · · · ·**


	23. Squishy Heads

**· · · · · · ·**

The Interstellar Alliance was a paper thin network upheld by the Gray and the Abyssal, two advanced alien species that had found common ground in their love of knowledge. One could also call them the Cosmical Denominators, or the Galactic Council, or a variety of chemical compounds that were really difficult to translate into any auditory language, let alone Eternal English that lacked clicks, howls or even so much as volume. They might just as well be called the Very Important Squishy Heads, according to Odygos.

Eliath thought this was silly. Virtually every species was squishy to him, and they all had varying degrees of importance based on that — namely, how likely were they to threaten the hive?

Since Sarah's departure, Eliath had been slowly introduced to the squishy city and all its squishy complexities. Hguthreeit had casually announced to the city that the guard now contained members that actually were real xenomorph and that anyone who had a problem should suck it up, lest their squishy selves be assaulted with invisible things like legalities and laws.

Eliath didn't understand half of that and hated that he had to.

Out there, he could just kill anything squishy that so much as looked the wrong way to the sisters. Over time, the dinosaurs learned to stay away.

In here, the squishy would _not_ stay away when he killed one of them. They'd come back later with weapons and a plan, going either after him or worse, the sisters. In here, creatures came to each others aid even when not member of a hive. Absurd but true. He could handle it, but there were consequences.

Anything he ruined required a payment. If he could not provide it, they would turn to Kirindi and make her provide it. His instincts had nothing to say about that, other than "obey queen and keep Kirindi safe."

He was to keep Kirindi alive and in the best possible condition. The alive part he had covered. The condition part ... did that mean he had to help her avoid unpleasant situations?

It didn't make her feel well when she was apologizing and working to repay.

On one claw, maybe it would be the best condition if she learned not to care for things not part of the hive.

On another, they needed to survive for the sake of their Mother and for that, they had to understand this world and paying heed to the squishy ones was part of that.

Metaphors were easy, and one that Eliath had picked up from Jake was "you're in way over your head", which he had used on Shadhahvar failing to operate a so called microwave. Odygos had somehow understood that very same thing.

Stupid Odygos and his curiosity had a purpose after all.

There were a mass of other things he was not allowed to do for reasons he didn't grasp.

He was not allowed to gather hosts in preparation for Mother's arrival.

He was not allowed to enter certain holes in the wall that fit the description of building, unless given explicit permission or having a good reason, like suspicious activity.

He was not allowed to give personal interpretations of suspicious activity.

He was not allowed to violently make anything organized move out of the way.

He was not allowed to interpret that command to only apply to direct contact with squishy creatures.

He was not allowed to lose blood on anything prone to melting, which was nearly everything.

At least to _that_, there were exceptions. Acid was an acceptable way to cease further violence and open locks, which he needed right now.

Eliath was sent here to investigate something being transported without permission. One of Hguthreeit's subordinates had determined this through some convoluted calculation and Eliath was to smell it out. He'd been given a sample at Hguthreeit's base, it was some sort of resin.

Find it, retrieve bit for evidence, call in reinforcements. Got it.

The cave he had melted himself a way into was dark, dry and muted. The entire place was stacked with crates of all sizes, full of subtle scents. Systematically, he crossed the place to find that one amongst hundreds.

He sensed Odygos enter, but didn't pay him much heed. In fact, he actively tried to ignore him. His stupid brother was way too interested in trivial details like the content of the crates even if they did not include the target material. He was not worth paying attention to.

At least, not until one of the crates came hurling down. Eliath barely managed to jump aside before the crate and its content shattered on the floor.

Atop the stack sat Odygos, hissing contently. Silently, he asked Eliath whether he felt annoyed.

Oh so yes.

Yes because this was pointless behavior, because it made things difficult, because it wasted time and most of all because somehow, Eliath hadn't seen it coming.

Odygos gleefully told him he couldn't notice his specific intentions telepathically because his mind was just too crude. To cement that, Odygos' tail suddenly launched a piece of rock. Eliath already stood against a wall of crates and was frankly too irritated to climb up. He lashed the rock away with his tail and shrieked.

Odygos turned tail and ran, not afraid in the least, just careful.

His brother was vexing, aimless, Eliath decided. So why did _he_ get along better with this situation?

Worse yet, Karga'te agreed with Eliath on that opinion. Being on the same line of thought as that worthless-should-be-kicked-out was now classified : annoying.

He was left with the broken material. Odygos was gone. Eliath would likely be blamed for this. Kirindi would be made to clean it up.

That would be annoying to her and not well.

Eliath hesitated, still lingering with his thought about whether she should learn to ignore it. Could she even do that? He was not built for this type of thought. Odygos was not either, but he was _flawed_, it was a side effect. His Mother wanted free thinking servants _exactly because_ her own children couldn't think like that, not without risk to her. In the perfect world, there would be only the hive, no pointless complications like compliance to anyone else's plans and no free thinking drones.

Yet he was also told to keep Kirindi well.

Eliath got up, collected the pieces of scattered crate and rock and spent half an hour carefully gluing them together with a resin of his own making.

Then he continued searching for that other resin, succeeded and reported.

Hguthreeit sent in his own servants, who turned the place upside down, smashed a lot more crates and statues and gave Eliath his first feeling of futility.

Far away, Odygos mocked him.

_Fine._

He sought out his brother, asking for explanation. Odygos took this as a cue to join him all the way, which he did by running up while Eliath crossed a roof's edge and bumping him.

Eliath instinctively latched onto the rock with three clawed limbs, avoiding a fall. Odygos found the fourth set of claws around the lower end of his head, the circle talor partially driven into joint of his jaws.

Would physical corrections work, if mental ones were useless against Odygos' defective behavior?

Odygos froze, but only briefly. As he shook off Eliath, he snickered and was satisfied with Eliath grasping the concept of threat before actually resorting to action. Likewise, it was great Eliath was now understanding that brand of frustration born from being put in place. Supersonically cheering for mental advance, he darted out of reach.

Eliath thought Odygos should be feeling that like he was put in place, but couldn't avoid that he was hopelessly behind on everything and Odygos had just pointed out he was already starting to adapt into the world of the squishy.

Odygos didn't leave much time for contemplation and launched in a tale of addictive poison and money and things other than truth, as well as how this related to not needing to worry about wrecked property in the illegal resin case and other vague concepts. The reason behind it all stayed vague.

There _had_ to be reason.

Kirindi was occupied elsewhere with her sister, but now he felt her call ease in and offer to explain.

That was an odd concept, especially since she offered with a sense of keeping _him _out of trouble. That was _his_ job towards _her._

Odygos suggested they all get together now. Eliath thought it pointless, they could communicate from a distance. Kirindi though agreed with Odygos, there would be less distractions at home and a chance to use the computer. She apparently found it difficult to relay specific images to Eliath and she needed them to explain the city.

He took off.

Odygos gathered up some items had had placed at the other edge of the roof, and caught up bipedal. The items were almost certainly not natural material. When Eliath wondered how this was in line with the order to not claim anything from the city, Odygos said he had been offered the material in a social ritual deemed apology. It was a legit trade : in exchange, he would not wreck the trespasser's rampaging beast anymore. Trading was totally allowed.

Once they ran out of flat roofs, the brothers cantered down the streets. Eliath tried to fight against the distracting glee Odygos got from seeing everything fearfully move aside. Whether anyone feared him was irrelevant to him as long as they didn't get in his way, he didn't want to care through Odygos.

At this point, Odygos launched one of his most bizarre thoughts at Eliath.

Here they were, walking down a street and the creatures around them were wrong to be afraid of them. Wasn't that just cheap and pathetic? Not for the creatures, for them as Mother's children. They were the strongest species in the universe and children of the greatest Mother, yet here they were, subject to the rules of these Not So Important Squishy Heads. Odygos was fully aware of how wrong this was, yet he was fascinated.

Eliath had no concept of cheapness or disgust, but Odygos did and that seeped over into Eliath. He found it a fitting concept for what they currently were : children of the oldest Mother of the galaxy, yet not conquering or building a new domain. For Odygos, this opinion was not strong enough to compete with _his fun_, but Eliath found it increasingly obnoxious and unpleasant. Especially now Odygos pointed it out.

Somehow, this all would help the restoration of his Mother to power. They needed the cooperation of the city, so it all had purpose. He didn't need to care for how this situation might appear to either himself or outsiders. All that mattered was the call of his Mother.

Nevertheless, it would be great if Odygos would just stop bugging him about squishy trivialities.

Karga'te and Kirindi could shut off their deepest mind from others. Kirindi had done it for months to keep Karga'te from finding out about her hive, but she said it had only worked because Karga'te never dug around in her mind anyway.

Eliath wanted to be able to do this too; Odygos and his constant experiments with mental diversity should not get in the way of his duty. Individuality was not for the drones and warriors, but today, it might be hist best defense against further mental decay.

Kirindi told him Odygos wasn't so wrong with his explorations, but also agreed Eliath should stay himself ... odd, he hadn't thought of this as a matter of staying himself ... just a matter of distractions.

She offered to teach him how to seal off. The start was made easily by her, he had no idea how, but Odygos was suddenly more ... distant.

She struggled for a moment to find the right mental wall for Eliath, then she asked him what he thought about this place and his role. He alone, not Odygos, not what he believed Mother would say.

Simple.

This place was pointless. It could only serve as a tool for Mother to wake and grow strong. They needed the androids for that. Their duty was simple as that, protect the hive as far as necessary, the rest just did not matter. Maybe as hosts.

Behind the wall, Odygos wondered what would happen to all the squishy stuff here. He didn't like the idea of them all dying out and being replaced by anything remotely like his brother. Plus, wasn't the wormy thing awesome? Sure, weak in the flesh, but its psychic grip on this city was remarkable : so much different things, yet so much control. Wouldn't that be fun to keep around?

They're not worthy paying attention to, Eliath returned calmly.

Odygos silently laughed at him. If they were not worth understanding, then why did Mother need creatures like Kirindi and Karga'te? They could do things Mother's children could not. Hive members who could be individuals and queens over all sorts of creatures, without becoming mothers and threatening Mother. Shouldn't they use that to rule?

Eliath didn't care. Anything within the wall had no instincts for this.

At this point they physically reached the edge of the active market and came closer to the pillars, where private estates were located. The majority of these had belonged to rich business folk to stay in, so many of them were empty for years. Those that weren't were evacuating right now. The district was silent save for such bursts of evacuation activity.

Their encounter with these panicked departures were their first encounter with fear _not_ directed at them. The fear they had for humans was a different one from which they held for the xenomorph.

Eliath didn't care definitions and went on, but Odygos stayed a little while to observe the creatures from a distance. At one point, he even approached them and decided to help them clean out their hive.

Stupid. They obviously didn't want the help, but off course that only served to entertain Odygos. Let's play empty the hive chambers as quickly as possible, then watch the hive members try to make sense of the mess that the content had turned into.

Karga'te had returned yet when Eliath arrived in their new hive chambers. Eliath ignored him and his tell tale irritation, but found it difficult. He was designated as a dominant mind in the hive, after all. That, and the sight of Karga'te peeling his helmet off the wall; Odygos had crafted the thing onto a statue like carving with resin and acid.

Karga'te wasn't sure of Odygos' administrations on his armor, especially since Odygos insisted he not use a helmet. Mother's kind relied on an exoskeleton for stability, while yautja had an endoskeleton. Only the head was the exception for the yautja, consisting of hard shell with only mush within. Therefore, he could at least leave that uncovered and let the echo senses develop there. Eliath momentarily paused to affirm the logic of this, then passed on.

In their room, Kirindi and Ti'chai had gathered around a holographic projection. Holographic images were difficult to perceive to Eliath, since he didn't have any eyes. He could make out shapes and colors to a degree, using sensors on the front of his head, but interpreting those was nigh impossible if there was no echo resonance or magnetic field.

For this reason, Kirindi was copying shapes of the hologram with the use of bendable metal rods and piece of cloth. Using these, she went on to explain about a hierarchy that involved abstract powers like money and social standing and property and more. Something as simple as knowing who was in charge of what could mean the difference between victory and loss. Knowing who the leader of the Auton was had helped, right? There would be many more situations like this in the future.

What she taught him felt pointless and abstract and irritated him. Not only that, it felt contrary to his nature itself. All decisions belonged to Mother, yet here he was, learning to juggle information so he could make them on his own.

Not right. Right.

The only thing that made sense was that Kirindi was here and he was keeping her in a well state, like Mother told him to, for the sake of the hive. Everything else didn't.

**· · · · · · ·**

After a lot of arguing with himself, Karga'te had decided to try on the adjusted armor. The thing fit perfectly, weighed only a little more and ... he hated to admit, but there was nothing he could say to the detriment of the work, save for how freaky it looked. Odygos had even colored separate parts differently, for as far as his xenoresin allowed.

How that drone managed to understand yautja and armory are so bloody well was a mystery when at the same time, he'd accept a bribe without even realizing it.

Odygos entered some time after Eliath and was confronted with Karga'te leaning against the nearest wall. Odygos still carried the fruit and got a sudden psychic wave of _wrong_ from Karga'te.

"~ That was not a legit trade, that was a bribe. You're not supposed to get anything in return for stopping what worm guy tells you. You're being paid by not being killed, got that? Don't ever do that again. ~"

Odygos got it. Right. He hadn't played by the rules.

Deciding to take it into stride, he sat down and and started ramming his tail on the floor. Karga'te would have ignored it earlier, but now he reached out telepathically and tried making his confusion apparent. Odygos showed him an image, colored, that he had taken out of Shadhahvar's head.

"~ Second, stop mindreading Shadhahvar. She's a bad source of information. You are not a dog. ~"

Odygos countered that the concept of dog hardly had anything to do with species, according to those movies Shadhahvar had seen.

"~ That's just her stupidity interpreting things and that's exactly why you should quit using her as source. ~"

Odygos took note and promptly decided to tag his entire list of sources according to credibility while figuring out credibility it itself, simultaneously launching into an exploration of the axis of truth, lie and anything in between. Karga'te tuned out quickly.

The moment he was no longer directly linked to the drone, Odygos turned around and entered the main room, where Kirindi and Ti'chai-di had moved to build some weird structure. Eliath was still in their room, trying to make sense of some abstract stuff. Whatever went on in Eliath's head there was like being burned, so Karga'te tried not paying attention.

Odygos inspected the structure for a moment, then handed his bribe to Kirindi. After all, it wasn't anything he needed to eat himself.

Kirindi eagerly accepted, shoved one piece into her mouth and confirmed with bloated cheek it wasn't anything harmful. Then she helped her sister eat, who had trouble handing small objects with her bony hands.

Right then, Eliath's awareness blared through the hivemind with something that Karga'te could only describe as a bizarre mixture of off-envy, confusion and territorial aggression aimed at Odygos.

It was Eliath's job to attend to Kirindi, not Odygos, and Eliath could not place Odygos' action in his limited understanding of the world beyond_ leave my job to me_.

It was childish, it was feral and it happened so quickly neither of the drones was prepared. Eliath burst into the room and shoved Odygos into the nearby elevator. Since said elevator was currently not up and in fact closed with doors that were not acid proof, the collision was loud, bloody and resulting in a huge drop for Odygos, with more acid upon arrival at the bottom.

Kirindi shrieked, Eliath startled as if waking from a daze, a far away Sarah launched an assault on Karga'te to stop lazying off and take control. He felt Sarah reach Eliath too, but couldn't feel clearly what it was, only that it was not pleasant and elicited a low hiss from the warrior. There was an enforcing echo to Sarah's presence that lingered even when her voice faded; Karga'te guessed the one named Lemura was in league.

Eliath still stood before the elevator door, increasingly puzzled with himself. Suddenly he turned and cantered out of the room. Reluctantly, Karga'te dug into the warrior drone's mind. He was met with the tell tale hostility against him, but also with a lot more.

It was like someone had taken the basic building blocks of a sapient mind, carelessly tossed them in a bag and now that bag had been opened and shaken onto a floor. There was no map on how to put the pieces together.

"~ What just happened? ~" he sent to the far away presence of Sarah and her side of the hivemind.

It took a while before a clear answer came.

Odygos wasn't the only drone who was being affected by the strange birth circumstances. Sarah theorized that due to Syvé's nature, her children were inherently different and needed psychic and genetic guidance during their early days, yet Syvé was unable to give this to them now.

That was why she had never tried escaping Enigma II by letting any of her offspring gestate. Without proper guidance, the same things that made her children stronger than ordinary xenomorph turned them too chaotic when left unsupervised. How this unfolded tended to depend on the host and the circumstances around birth. Odygos and his relatively harmless curiosity was an exception to the norm.

Whatever the case, the Auton better not find out about this. They'd draw the wrong conclusions.

Eliath was moving to the bottom of the elevator, feeling neither regret nor satisfaction at his own actions. He was just going on instinct in retrieving a member of his hive who was needed to defend the rest of the hive.

Every time one part of his mind fired off all that did not make sense about him throwing around his hive member, it bounced off of agitation and knowledge of Odygos not acting like he should. Intersecting this all were gaps where his mother's call should ring, a murderous instinct silenced by one of the few orders she had left him with and a growing individuality that whispered him things different from both his instincts and his Mother. Whenever those whispers didn't meet direct resistance, he would follow them.

Sarah again told Karga'te to take up dominance. They needed guidance, however flawed it would be.

How was he supposed to do that?

Improvise, Sarah replied.

"~ Odygos, Eliath, throwing is not to be included in the same action as interaction with your brother. You don't throw other people's property at each other and you don't throw each other at other people's property. Oh, and just for your information, if it's part of this planet, it's not your property. ~"

Ti'chai-di let it slip by accident that Karga'te had once thrown Hguthreeit out of a window.

"That was different, he wouldn't have left a big acid splatter that could kill bystanders."

Odygos agreed with a pained, wordless afterfeeling. _Playing by rules good_.

Eliath did not deny the order, but did not affirm it either. At best, his response could be translated as _sure, for now_.

Peering down the elevator shaft, Karga'te caught glimpses of a bleeding Odygos stumbling away and people running away screaming.

The longer Karga'te focused on the drones, the more disturbed he was by them. Brothers, yet no care for pain or suffering of their sibling. Odygos at least felt somewhat betrayed by Eliath, but Eliath himself was just blank on this terrain.

He looked at the sisters, who had stopped building. Kirindi had stood up and came to stand at his side. The only reason she hadn't followed to help Odygos was that she couldn't do much without her sister, who would have significantly more trouble going down.

"~ Kirindi, you need to figure out what exactly he thinks protecting you means and .. do something about this. ~" Karga'te waved a hand vague at the wrecked elevator.

She was a tittle hesitant. Not out of fear for Eliath, but for the chaos she'd find inside. Part of that chaos involved a death wish to many things she didn't want to see die or be destroyed.

"~ Alright, ~" she nevertheless told her father.

"~ For all his talk on me not belonging in this hive, he's bloody screwed up himself. ~"

"~ Kainde Amedha weren't meant for anything but survival and the hive, especially not for ... for ... ~" She struggled for the word, but the closest yautja equivalent was too different from the human one. Karga'te had never objected to her learning language and knowledge from the Auton, but he hadn't cared to himself. "~ Personhood, ~" she decided on.

In response, Karga'te showed her a little of a long ago memory. Someone had already explained that concept to him. She was right.

"~ You should teach him about that too. ~"

"~ I may? I would, but I thought you did not want him to become smart. ~"

"~ The smarter he gets, the better he'll be at killing me. He might just figure out there are indirect ways. Still, at least with logic, he'd be predictable. ~"

"~ Eliath would kill everything for the sake of the hive, you only a little more eagerly. If he learns more, perhaps he will see you as less of a threat. ~"

Karga'te scoffed, but nevertheless gave her a soft push forward. "~ Just go already. ~"

Smiling, she nodded and ran off. Ti'chai-di, still the same as always, slowly stood up to follow.

Karga'te sank on the nearest chair.

Who would have thought that thinking intensely for a few minutes could be more exhausting than fighting a few hours straight?

Sarah's mind reached out again, somewhat comforting, as she explained that for humans, the brain used up about twenty percent of daily energy despite only weighing less than two percent of the body mass. Similar as yautja were to humans — on the scale between human and xenomorph at least — he could expect a similar percentage to be true. She told him not to worry though, once Syvé was awake and their transfigurations would be complete under her guidance, it would all become easier.

Transfiguration. Pfffft.

Then again, it would too late too turn back. Had been too late for many years now.

Throwing up a wall against Sarah and anyone else, he wondered what his brother would think of this all.

He shrugged it off quickly. Nra'tex-ne was just going to have to tolerate it. It wasn't like he ever had imagined they'd go back on the same Path anyway. Nra'tex-ne would return to being an honorable hunter because that was who he always had been, while Karga'te would stay with Kirindi, Ti'chai-di and freedom. Even if that meant being part of a Kainde Amedha hive. Well, as long as he wasn't brainwashed.

He couldn't tell whether his emotions were being manipulated to feel safe. It might very well be, since he found himself remarkably at ease about being Kainde Amedha himself.

Kirindi flat out told him that yes, she was offering him a sense of calmness and he was accepting it openly. Was it wrong?

He decided that in this case, it wasn't. In fact, he could think a lot clearer than when he was angry. How long had it been ago that he really had thought about his brother as anything more than a painful, fleeting quest?

Feeling at ease didn't drive away doubts entirely. Him deciding this was alright could also be an effect of the hive's influence.

Again Kirindi affirmed. It was a combination of telepathic soothing and his growing understanding of the hive mind. There was a limit to the influence though. It could only altered the energetic side of the brain, the physical side was still there. That was after all why something like hive rejection couldn't easily be countered.

Good enough, Karga'te decided as he laid back with his arms behind his head. As he stared up at the sealing, which was taking a distinctly hivelike appearance, he realized he hadn't even felt any need to use sounds for communication.

**· · · · · · ·**


End file.
